


Some Disassembly Required

by secretkeeper



Series: Disassemble and Reassemble [1]
Category: Avengers (Comics), Marvel 616, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, C-list saves the day, F/M, Fix-It, Mental Health Issues, shameless retconning of football history
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-16
Updated: 2018-11-22
Packaged: 2019-05-24 03:08:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 30
Words: 198,244
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14946470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/secretkeeper/pseuds/secretkeeper
Summary: When Wanda Maximoff finds herself accused of unimaginable crimes against the Avengers, she is forced to go on the run. With the help of allies she never expected, she must find a way to clear her name, uncover the truth, and repair bonds that were long ago broken.





	1. On the Run

**Author's Note:**

> And here it is! My second fully-planned story! This is both what I like to call a fix for my least favorite comic story line of all time and also a way to get some little-known characters some time in the spotlight. (Seriously, I know two of the major players here don't even have tags here yet, and I'm pretty certain one does not.)
> 
> I hope to keep to the same regular updates I did with Streets, but it might not turn out that way. I do promise to update as often as I can.
> 
> With all that said, let's begin.

    If one were to notice the woman making her way through the streets of New York that night, it's likely they wouldn't have thought too much of it. No matter what the hour, there's always going to be someone trying to get to where they need to be.

    A person who did notice her might have wondered at the speed she was showing, or why she plowed forward with such determination. But they most likely would have just shrugged and figured that she was trying to run some errands. A scant few may have found the bag she was carrying to be the center of their attention, but they would have been baffled to see that the only contents right now were a box of hair dye and a receipt. Why would something like that be the only thing she purchased, given that she clearly seemed to be on a mission?

    And an even smaller number might have looked and recognized a face they knew from the news, but none would have been able to say why she was alone or what might have brought her here.

    They wouldn't be alone in asking those questions – for the last week, Wanda Maximoff had found herself asking those questions over and over again.

    By now she had arrived at the room she had managed to get with the money she'd stored away for emergencies, although something quite like this had never occurred to her. Making certain the door was locked, with a quick spell to ensure that a warning would come up if anyone familiar came to close, Wanda sat down and tried to catch her breath.

     It seemed so impossible to believe how her life had crumbled around her in such a short period of time. Just over a week ago she had been a member in long-standing of the Avengers, had plans for a date over the weekend, and felt happier than she had in a long time. When Tony had asked her to accompany him to the speech he was giving, it had seemed like it would be good fun and a way to represent the team. Normally it would be Jan who went to one of these things, but for whatever reason she'd been unable to make it, so Wanda volunteered.

     While waiting for Tony to begin speaking, they'd spoken for a while. “Just let me know if I'm too boring or if Ultron or someone barges in while I'm talking, okay?”

    She'd laughed. “If you look at me and see me yawning, then you'll know you need to make things more exciting.”

     Tony had then given her his typical charming smile. “I hear that you might have some plans for this weekend. Got a hot date coming up, don't you?”

    Most people who knew of Tony Stark would be surprised to know that he had never at any time been flirtatious towards Wanda in any serious way. She'd always felt like he was one of her close friends, and he'd been one of the people who helped her and Pietro adjust to their new lives in the US when they had first joined the team. Deciding to be a bit coy, she'd said “I might be. Are you trying to tell me you're interested?”

    He reached out for her hand, and while giving it a squeeze said “You know that I'm really happy for you. I always want to see my friends doing well. I'm hoping this leads to things working out for you, Wanda.”

    There hadn't been much else left to say, because it was then time for Tony to speak. And that was when things had started to go wrong.

    Wanda had known from both talking with Tony beforehand as well as interacting with him that there was no way he had shown any signs of being drunk before he began talking. What had happened to make him seem that way remained a mystery, because after they had gotten back to the mansion everything had gone to pieces so fast.

    Thinking about the attacks was still hard to do. There had been Jen losing control, Jan being seriously hurt, and Clint had just barely avoided falling to his certain death via a hex she had been able to fire off and break his fall as the ship exploded above them. (The bruise over her cheek where a piece of debris had struck her was only now starting to heal up, but with everything else going on it didn't concern her.) And Scott had been killed in an explosion, and...

    She shook her head, not wanting to let her mind linger over that for too long. It would bring too much pain, and that was the last thing she needed more of now.

    What with everything that had happened since then, it still made Wanda shake her head as she thought about the relief she had felt upon seeing Stephen. By that time it was becoming clear to her that there was some type of malevolent magic that was being used against them, and she wasn't sure what to do about it. Her relief had been short-lived, as the words he was saying rang in her ears with a sense of horror. She'd been so horrified that she hadn't been able to come up with a coherent response, and had only been able to watch as the team turned against her.

    Her shock had been so great that she'd been unable to resist being taken away. For a period of time she had remained where she was, listening to everyone discuss the situation. What hurt the most was that no one said something to the effect of “Hold on. I know Wanda, and I know what she's capable of. Do you think that something else might be going on here?” Yet none of the people she had known for so long seemed to think there might be a deeper problem.

    Even her brother seemed to believe that she had done all of these things, although he at least asked her at one point if she was really there. Whether Pietro had meant she was possessed or if he thought that she had been replaced in some way wasn't really clear, and she didn't get the chance to ask him about it due to either Steve or Tony being constantly on guard near her prison.

    (It may have just been a room, but for Wanda it couldn't have been a worse cell.)

    She'd kept hoping for a chance to speak to her brother or someone else alone, so that she could try and proclaim her innocence in all of this, but the chance never came about. Besides the men who were watching over her twenty-four hours a day, Pietro was her only visitor. The last time he had spoken with her, he had pleaded with her to make everything right with tears in his eyes. _How?,_ she wanted to exclaim. _I don't even know what made things wrong._ But for some reason her thoughts were unable to be vocalized.

    This state of inertia could have lasted for longer if it had not been for the conversation she had overheard yesterday. The topic was what to do with her, as Wanda expected to hear. The solution that was being proposed, however, was not one she could have imagined.

    They were talking about killing her. She was too dangerous to be kept alive – after all, look at all the destruction she had caused. Someone who could virtually do anything and was completely mad was too great a risk to be allowed to survive. The shock engendered by the idea was broken when Wanda heard Steve say “If only Jan hadn't said anything about her children. Maybe then this wouldn't have happened.”

    Jan was another one of her closest friends, so the words she had said by the pool that day had struck her as being incredibly cruel. It had felt so out-of-character at the time that all Wanda had been able to do was walk away, wondering why she was bringing up one of the most painful times of her life. Jan didn't even seem to remember it later on, so she'd tossed it by the wayside. But now the words took on a sinister meaning.

    The realization of what was going to happen to her if she did not act had served to snap Wanda out of the reverie she had been in since the events had begun. Her life was in danger, and she needed to act now in order to save herself.

    By a stroke of luck, there was a brief period of time where no one was watching her. The door had been locked, but Natasha had shown her at one point how to pick a basic lock. The lock had qualified, and soon enough the door swung open. She made certain that her brother was nowhere to be found, as the last thing she wanted was for him to be blamed for her escape. From there, she took off outside and towards the ruins of the mansion.

    The biggest concern Wanda had had before arriving was if anyone might be there keeping guard, or if some construction workers might be lingering to assess how to repair the damage. Yet when she finally got there not only was there no one around, it didn't look like anything had changed since the day of the attack. It was an unfortunate fact the the Avenger's mansion was often subject to attack, and getting damaged or destroyed was something that Tony always made certain to have the funds for repairs set aside. But after a week there should have been some manner of progress made. As far as Wanda could tell, there had been absolutely nothing accomplished during that time.

    Well, with everything else that had been going on over the last week maybe it shouldn't have been too surprising that it had gone by the wayside. Her purpose was to get some things that she had hidden away in the event of an attack like this one. Following the burning of her house, it had become clear to Wanda that she needed a place to store anything she owned that could not be easily replaced, as well as a stash of necessities. In order to keep them safe, she had found a place on the property where she had buried the things that needed to be kept away. She dashed over to the spot as quickly as she could, hoping that everything would still be there.

    In one of the few strokes of good luck she had recently, the chest was still intact and its contents undisturbed. While there was one item in particular she thought about taking, in the end all she got was the spare phone which had been added after hers had been upgraded and all the money that was there. It would be too risky to withdraw any money right now – they were going to be looking for any trace of her, and therefore she needed to keep herself off the radar as much as possible.

    Not bothering to take the time to bury the chest again, Wanda took off into the night.

 

* * *

 

    Now she was standing over the sink, working on changing her appearance. There wasn't all that much she could do right now save change her hair. So now she watched as her hair became shorter and shorter. For the vast majority of her life Wanda had kept her hair long, it being the way she felt most comfortable. But it had to go in order to keep her safe.

    She studied the hair dye to see what she needed to do, and as she did her thoughts drifted towards what she had heard about Agatha. Perhaps it was the fact that she had given up her mentor for dead before that made her not feel the overwhelming sorrow she expected to have. Instead the greatest emotion she felt was confusion. What had happened to Agatha? With her considerable magical talent, it was a shock that she seemed to have been taken by surprise. But why had Steve said it looked like she was dead for some time? Wanda had spoken with her so many times over the last four years, needing her support even more after the worst loss of her life. What if all of those times she had been...

    A firm shake of her head. _You are not crazy,_ she told herself. _Something else is happening here._

    Her mental health had been something that she had been worried about ever since she had broken down following the loss of everything she held dear. The way her thoughts had been during that time felt unreal afterwards, as if they had come from some kind of mental invasion. And who was to say it might not happen again?

    Wanda's concern had led her to go and speak with Dr. Samson about her worries. He had listened to her fears, and offered a reassuring assessment. “Normally when you see someone who's had a psychotic episode, you try to look at a bunch of different things to see if they're going to be at risk of future problems. From what I see in your case, you've got a lot of things working in your favor. You didn't have any known problems prior to this, and functioned very well in your daily life. Also, I can't discount the level of stress you were under in that period of time. Losing your husband and children so close together would be an immense challenge for even the strongest of us. The final piece is that your breakdown didn't go for at least six months, which is the point when you start to get concerned. Not that a shorter duration is any good, but up until that marker we don't like to think it's going to be a permanent issue. All of those things make me feel confident in saying that what happened to you was a brief psychotic disorder brought on by all the stress you were undergoing at that time.”

    She'd had one more question. “You know who my father is. Don't you think that might indicate some kind of issues are likely to come up later?”

    “Wanda, even identical twins don't always have the same mental health issues as each other, and they're about as closely related as you can get. But if you're really worried, come over every so often and I'll do a basic evaluation to see how things are with you.”

    She had done so, and at no time had Dr. Samson expressed any doubts about her overall mental health. The last time had been over eight months ago, and a part of her wondered why no one had thought to consult him. She'd spoken about her fears to both Steve and Tony, and had told them about how she was working through those fears. It was yet another piece of the puzzle she could not yet put together. But the signs indicated someone – or something – was interfering with the minds of her teammates. Otherwise, wouldn't they have remembered her speaking to them?

     Memories. It was what this whole thing seemed to come down to. The rationale that had been given for her supposed attacks on the team – that she had been made to remember her children by Jan and that somehow triggered such anger and madness – couldn't be true. Wanda at times wished that she  _could_ once more forget such a thing, to mark off another source of pain in her life. But you were the sum of your experiences, and forgetting your pain meant forgetting yourself. At least that had been how Agatha had put it when she'd told her “Sometimes I wish you'd just let me keep on not knowing what went on with my boys.”

     “To forget for a time was necessary to get you through the moment. Now you're strong enough to live with their loss. And besides, would you want to forget all of the good times as well?” And that certainly was correct – her pregnancy, the days she and Vision had had with their family – all of those memories were ones that brought so much joy tinged with sorrow. Her next words had been so quiet Wanda had wondered if she was supposed to hear them at all. “And what will you do in the future if you're not prepared?”

    Agatha and her often unusual ways were something by this point she expected. But their last visit had been different than most of their meetings. She had been unusually distant, and only seemed to be partially listening to Wanda talk about her upcoming date. At one point she came out and asked “Dear, have you been keeping up with your studies in magic lately?”

    “Not really, no.” After the events following her return from the other world, she'd made a vow to further pursue her studies so that she could be more prepared for whatever was to come in the future. But as was normally the case for an active Avenger, there was too little time to spend on non-work related issues, so she never really got around to it.

    She hadn't looked happy at hearing that. “Well, let me give you a few things you might want to be reading. Wasn't there a time when Stephen suggested you come study with him? It would be a good thing for both of you if you took him up on that.”

    The idea of the Sorcerer Supreme needing her help in anything seem implausible, but then again it had been a while since she'd spoken with Stephen. It could be that he was looking to take on a student right now. “I'll consider it, but what about the team? I'm so busy with them that I barely had time to get over here and see you. I'm not sure they would be able to let me go for a while. Who would fill in? There's just not enough time for everything right now.”

    The words appeared to strike a chord in Agatha. “Yes. Time. There's never enough of it, is there? Time to set things right, to repair what has been broken...” She trailed off and shook her head.

    Wanda almost wished she had asked what she was talking about. Had she known what was to come for all of them? Instead she had just continued to update her mentor on how her life was going, and left with a promise to come back soon, a promise that it didn't look like she would be able to keep anytime soon.

    The hair dye needed some time to set in, so Wanda occupied herself by checking the news on her phone. She saw nothing related to her or to anything regarding the Avengers, so for now she knew that the general public wasn't going to be on the lookout for her. It wasn't that much of a help, but at least it meant she could go outside without having to worry the next person she saw would end up turning her in.

    With one concern able to be ignored, her thoughts drifted towards her brother. She hoped that he was able to account for his whereabouts during the period of time in which she had been able to escape, because the last thing in the world she wanted to do was cause Pietro any more pain in his life. For such a long period of time they had only had each other to rely on, and she could say that he was one of two people she could completely trust in the world. (She tried to keep her thoughts from the second, knowing that lingering on them would only hurt more.) If she could find a way to let him know that she was safe, she would rush to do it, but Wanda could tell that the very first place anyone would be looking for her was at her brother's side. Having him worry about her wasn't ideal, but what else could be done?

    A loud noise outside her room caused her to jump to her feet. Her heart was racing until she was certain that nobody was coming after her. She knew that her current lodgings weren't the best place in the world to be staying, but they also didn't ask any questions and charged a small amount. Even with the sum of money for one night being small, Wanda still knew that her funds would be rapidly drained if she were to spend much longer here, so she needed to come up with some plan in the next few days.

    Yet what could that plan be? While she was fleeing, the only thought in her head had been to get away, to save her life. She hadn't bothered to think of what should come next. The most obvious plan would be to go and try to clear her name - but how was she going to go about doing that? Her mentor was either dead or wanted everyone to think she was, her teammates all thought she had gone mad, and the only people she knew she could rely on weren't available to her.

    After agonizing over her dilemma for too long, Wanda decided she needed to make a list in order to sort out her thoughts and know what to do next.

_Problem - someone is making everyone think that I'm responsible for the attacks on the team._

_Things I need to know: 1. Why are they doing this?_

_2\. Is it a direct attack on me, or is there another target that I can't figure out right now?_

_3\. Who are the magic-users the team has faced in the past, and which one's are most likely to do this?_

_Plans - first of all, keep expenses at an absolute minimum. Don't have all that much money and I can't easily get more._

_Second, make sure to go and find some magic books I might need. I've looked away from that part of me for too long now, and that knowledge is just what I need right now._

_Third, think of place to go. It'll have to be somewhere no one will think of. Can decide in a day or so._

_Finally, at no time should I use my hex power. If everyone thinks I can make all those things happen by using it the only way to prove my innocence is to not use my powers at all._

_Things that are still up in the air - who I can find to help. This sort of thing can't be handled on one's own, and I need help._

_How long I can stay here – I don't want to go anywhere yet, not before I've gotten a few things together. But staying too long increases the chance of being found._

    She stopped. Having everything outlined in front of her made the overwhelming task that lay ahead of her made it a bit easier.

    By now the dye had set in for long enough, so Wanda went to review her changed appearance in front of the mirror in the bathroom. It wasn't perfect, not by a long shot. If you knew who you were looking for you might be able to guess who she was, but a quick glance wasn't going to be enough to draw attention. Seeing herself with short black hair felt unreal, but as long as it kept her hidden it served its purpose.

    It was getting late, so she knew that she would be turning in very soon. Not that she thought she would be able to get much sleep, because her sleep had been unsteady ever since the trouble began. Her dreams had been filled with her friends and teammates standing around to condemn her, while the ones she thought she could count on were either held back or crumbled to dust besides her. It had also been a challenge to eat, because her stomach was so tied up in knots that food was the last thing on her mind. Before getting her room, Wanda had been able to get herself a quick meal, and even though it was just a sandwich and chips it felt like a feast of the highest order.

    She knew that she could live with being a bit hungry, having dealt with a lack of food at many points in her younger years. Before losing her parents, there were times when Father hadn't been able to get work or the work he did get wasn't enough to provide sufficient food for two growing children. He and Mother had always made certain that Pietro and her were the first ones to get what could be provided, but sometimes that wasn't enough. And when it had just been her and her brother, hunger was an even more common thing. She remembered how when they had first been taken in by the Brotherhood how being able to get three meals a day felt like such a luxury! And then after joining the Avengers, Jarvis's wonderful meals felt fit for a king.

    Once again, the memories of the time when she had belonged so completely hurt her that she had to switch her thoughts over to something else. Since she was starting to yawn, Wanda opted to just go and sleep, and to make more plans tomorrow.

    Her last thought before sinking into slumber was  _I am not crazy. I am not crazy._

* * *

 

    The spirit found herself still looking for what to do next. She had known almost since she was forced back into the world of the living that trouble would eventually arise, but the nature of what that trouble would be wasn't clear. When things had finally erupted, the trouble had turned out to be far worse than anyone might have seen. Destruction was one thing, but the fact that all of the blame was now being placed on Wanda was even worse.

    From what she could see, she was sleeping right now, and didn't appear to be in too much distress. The witch was clearly in a great deal of trouble, but she had been working on finding some manner of solution to her problem. So the spirit chose to look elsewhere. If Wanda was in need of direction, then she would work to give her a push down the right path. Until then, a hands-off approach would be taken.

    The pull of the beyond once again tugged at her soul, and she pushed hard to remain in the realm of the living. She wanted nothing more than to travel to where there would be no pain or worry, where all those she had known before were waiting. But there was too much that needed to be done before she could finally cast her soul free. The wrongs needed to be set right, and the deception had to be uncovered by all. It was worse that part of the trouble had been caused by her own words, and how could what she had said ever be explained or forgiven?

    Upon her arrival back, she had learned quickly that there was only one reason she was supposed to be there. When that was done, then her summoner sought to toss her aside, and forget he had ever used her. But he had underestimated the abilities of those around him, and now she was working to be a thorn in his side.

    Agatha Harkness sighed. If only Wanda had taken her up on the offer she had put forward during their last meeting! Not only would that have kept her away from the trouble as it came forth, but it would have given her the tools to uncover what was happening to her team. But regrets were one of those things that served no good after a disaster happened. What should have been done was never as important as what could be done.

    First of all, she needed to see if there were any allies out there who could work without directly interacting with Wanda. With the ideas the Avengers had about what she could do, it wasn't a good idea to have them working with her in person. The real challenge was going to be finding someone who could be relied upon. If her guesses as to how the abilities of the enemy worked were correct, she had a few leads that could be pursued. How to get their attention was the problem, but perhaps over time a method would come to her.

    There were some who might have been able to help under different circumstances, but as of now one was the first person who would be suspected of helping, one was dealing with their own troubles, and the last one was incapacitated. With the way things had ended up turning out, only one might have been a choice anyway.

    It was important now to take a quick look over at Wanda's teammates, to see what they were doing now. While it seemed that so far they had not been trying to draw any attention to her disappearance, it didn't mean they weren't looking at all. If Agatha saw anything that told her that their pursuit was becoming more serious she would have to alert Wanda to that fact, and see if something could be done to better hide her.

    Of course, the most important piece of knowledge she possessed couldn't be shared with anyone else, due to the block that had been placed as soon as she learned it. But there was nothing keeping her from making the truth known in other ways.

    The truth will set you free, it was said, but right now the truth was the only thing that could save her former pupil from a terrible fate.

    With a final look at Wanda, she headed off. There was much to be done.

* * *

 

    In the tower that compromised his current home, Tony Stark awaited the latest news. Ever since the attack he had felt like he was constantly on edge, and now the fact that Wanda had disappeared didn't make things any better.

    He'd been watching over her constantly since the disaster had happened, trying to figure out how no one had noticed anything and what they needed to do next. Tony had only stopped watching for a little while, in order to get some work done he hadn't been able to do before. It had been a bad idea, he knew that – but Wanda hadn't shown any inclination towards doing anything since Doctor Strange had arrived that day. So it seemed safe enough.

    Putting his head in his hands as he thought about how foolish he'd been, Tony almost didn't notice Steve Rodgers coming over until he was almost at his side. “Anything?”

    The leader of the Avengers shook his head. “No. I went to go see if Quicksilver to see if he had anything to do with Wanda's escape, but X-Factor was able to account for his whereabouts the entire day. I even went to her father, but Magneto hadn't seen her either. As far as I can tell, she's vanished off the face of the earth.”

    Feeling guilty, he said “If I'd just been paying attention...”

    “Don't think that way, Tony. We know what Wanda's capable of. It's possible she did something that made you not be aware while she got away.”

    Steve sounded reassuring, but Tony couldn't help but feel something was wrong here. His thoughts kept wondering why if Wanda bore so much malice towards the team why nothing else had happened since the initial attack. And why, if she could re-write reality on a whim hadn't she just made it so no one could remember what had happened?

    But as soon as the thoughts came to mind, they drifted away. His head began to pound, and his mind went elsewhere. “What do you think we should do now? Should we send out some kind of alert so we can know if she's been spotted?”

    For his part, Steve didn't look to feel any less confused. “I don't know. I know that we have to take some kind of action here, but what we need to do isn't as clear as I would like. I keep going back to the ultimate solution, but then I wonder if I could live with myself doing it.”

    Tony didn't think he could live with himself afterwards if he carried out the plan either. Wanda may have been dangerous to those around her, but was that enough to justify taking her life? In spite of what many people thought, heroes at times did have to resort to killing those who posed a threat. But doing so could never be taken lightly, and if the person involved was close to you it needed to be taken even more seriously. Could any of the team be able to carry out such a task and live with themselves afterwards?

    Steve's words made him think a bit. Was it really possible for someone to lose their mind as completely as Wanda had and not show any signs of it? Tony had seen someone close to him break down before, but how things had gone with Hank were different. To start off, you could normally get an idea when he was starting to come apart. There were signs of stress or just a sense that something was different this time around. With Wanda, nothing had seemed any different about her, even up to the speech where he had been made to seem drunk. (If he thought about it, he would remember the look of surprise on her face then, but that thought was quickly driven away.) Tony may not have had a background in psychiatry, but it did feel odd that up until a week ago he'd seen nothing that indicated trouble. There was the time that she had broken down before – but as Clint had said at the time, with all that was going on in her life who could blame her? And by all accounts she had recovered from the breakdown and showed no signs of trouble up until a week ago.

    Once again, thinking about that made his head hurt. Tony tried to push past the pounding and asked “Do you think that what happened was because of her powers, or what Jan said, or was it something else entirely?”

    Steve just shook his head, and sighed. “I don't know. All I know is how she is now. And we need to be on guard for anything that might end up happening. We've already lost two people to this, and I'm afraid we could lose more if we aren't careful. And what are we going to do without a team?”

    Another thing that if he thought about it didn't make sense. There had been so many things that had happened to the Avenger over the years, from the deaths of members to betrayal to assaults on their home. Each one of those tragedies had brought them closer together, and with each one the team picked themselves up and became stronger. What made this time different?

    If Tony were able to think on the matter, he would have realized that it was only when he started to ask questions that his head began to hurt and his thoughts drifted away. If he had been aware, he still would have had no idea as to what was befalling them or why. What he did do was say “This is getting to be too much right now. I've been getting headaches all day.”

    “Do you think Wanda might have something to do with it?”

    “No. It's just something that happens when I'm feeling stressed out. If it gets bad I'll take something and we should be okay.” It was at best a partial truth but something was telling Tony that his teammate had nothing to do with this problem.

    Steve for his part just sat there, not saying anything. The silence was broken by the sound of a phone ringing. He went to answer it, and could be heard saying “When did this happen? And why weren't we told about this earlier?” It was clear that something major had happened, whatever it may be.

    He waited until the conversation was over before speaking. “What happened?”

    “There was a major breakout at the Raft not too long ago. I told them we would come and see what we could do.”

    With that, both men headed into action, the issue of Wanda being forgotten for the time being. And neither one of them could have possibly guessed that everything was going along according to the dark designs of a stranger.

* * *

 

    And across the country, three separate threads were beginning to work together. One in New Mexico, one in New York, and one in New Jersey. And all of those threads had a role to play in finding the truth and mending what had been broken so long ago.

 


	2. Searching for Help

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wanda plans, a foe plots, and Pietro worries.

    With her arms full of the purchases she had made, Wanda headed back to her room. By budgeting carefully, she was able to get herself enough food to last for a while along with two books, and still have some left over. The amount was small enough that she knew staying here more than another night wasn't going to be wise, so hopefully what she was planning on doing would get her answers.

    Since nothing she had purchased was perishable, her first priority was the first of the books she had bought. The subject matter was various methods of scrying and divination, and Wanda flipped through the pages hoping to find something she could use.

    The best thing she could see involved using some fresh water and a bowl made of silver. The biggest problem with that was of course the lack of a silver bowl to use, and she didn't think that going out and buying one was a wise use of her remaining money. But the text did have a brief statement saying “If a silver bowl is unavailable, then a substitute of organic material will often suffice, unless one is looking to see far into the future.”

    Well, that was something she could work with. There was a paper cup in the bathroom that certainly qualified as organic, and she'd gotten a bottle of water to drink when shopping. With a quick look to see if there was a time the spell needed to be completed (for more elaborate visions it was best to work during a full moon, but just a nudge in the right direction didn't seem to have any restrictions), she began to gather together what she needed.

    Under different circumstances, the idea of using a small paper cup for something like this would have sent Wanda into peals of laughter over how ridiculous it was, but laughter wasn't a thing she was in the mind of currently. “I need help,” she whispered. “Show me someone who will help me find the truth.”

    As her hand hovered over the cup, steam began to come out. It moved to form a sort of screen, and from there the image of a person appeared.

    But it would do her no good. It was Pietro, and while Wanda had no doubt he was going to be willing to help her in this matter, or in whatever else she needed, he would also be the first person everyone would think of if they went looking for her. Endangering her brother wouldn't make anything right, no matter what his skills in finding the truth were.

    She once again wished there was some way of letting him know that she was safe and in hiding. Maybe in one of the books she now had there would been some method she could use to speak with Pietro for a little while. If not, she would have to live without alleviating his worries until she could be certain things had been set right.

    Moving forward, she repeated the spell. This time, she was more specific about what might be helpful to her right now. "Show me someone who isn't family, who might be able to help me."

    But this time didn't go any better. It was Crystal, her former sister-in-law. Wanda didn't think that she would be someone they would start looking at to find her, but she couldn't think of any way she could get to Attilan without being noticed. So that was another option that was off the table.

    It always made her sad to think about how things had worked out for Crystal and her brother. Both of them had needed to learn to _talk_ to each other, rather than just letting everything stew in silence. It didn't help matters that both of them didn't want to see the people they loved unhappy, so voicing something that bothered them wasn't a thing that happened much. Wanda suspected that not being able to voice her feelings had been one of the reasons Crystal had ended up seeing another man. She still maintained that her actions had been thoughtless, but they weren't completely understandable. What had happened afterwards had also cast a shadow on her relationship with Pietro, because it was a bad idea to ask him to forgive her right away. At that moment, he had been dealing with not only seeing his wife become so sick, but also with learning that she had betrayed him in the worst possible way. His anger and frustration should have been expected, not criticized. Knowing her brother as well as she did, her suspicions had been that in time he would have been able to work through the mess Crystal's actions had caused, but since Pietro was not allowed to feel what he was feeling nothing got better, and in time drove the two of them apart again.

    Of course, there was another issue that wasn't acknowledged by anyone that had played a part in tearing the two apart. Based on the times Wanda had gone to see her brother and sister-in-law, she could tell that most of Inhuman society looked down on Crystal for marrying a man who wasn't of the same heritage as them. Due to the efforts of Medusa and Black Bolt, the public normally didn't directly say anything derogatory, but neither did they treat Pietro with anything more than a cool disdain. When the news of Crystal's infidelity had leaked out, more than a few of the Inhumans had mumbled something about how maybe next time she would pick a better mate. And it wasn't just her brother that the words hurt – Crystal herself was well aware of what people thought, and while in the beginning she had been too caught up in the joy of being in love it had worn her down over time. Wanda herself had been on the same end of disapproval over who she loved, but there was one major difference between the two women: while Wanda had her team fully backing her and giving her support in her decisions, Crystal had not been given the same. Her sister had never come out and said that she would have been happier if she had married one of her own kind, but Medusa hadn't gone and made Pietro overly welcome either. A part of this undoubtedly came from her marriage to the royalty, which required one to be even more conscious of proper social etiquette. Yet that couldn't explain the entirety of what happened, so it was safe bet that on some level she did wish her sister had chosen the right partner. So while the end of a relationship normally was a time of sadness for all, Crystal had been encouraged to be glad that she was no longer tied to Pietro by those bonds.

    She wondered how Crystal actually felt about her former spouse. Pietro's feelings on the issue were fairly clear, as one could tell if they brought up Crystal in his presence. In spite of his feelings, he still kept a distance from her, likely having resigned himself to how things were now. Sometimes Wanda wondered if things would have been different if they had both been living on Earth the entire time, or if Crystal had spent more time with the Avengers. The few times she had gotten a chance to speak with her on being a member of the team she had seemed to miss the time she had spent with them. But when asked if she would consider returning at some point, her answer was “I must follow the will of my people. They need me here.”

    Hoping that some day Crystal would learn to seek out her own desires, Wanda began to cast her spell a third time.

    And as the image coalesced this time, it was worse than any of the previous ones. She had to step back, trying to regain her composure. It shouldn't have been a surprise that he would have come up at some point, but the sight of the one she loved was almost too much to bear right now.

     And as the familiar visage faded away, Wanda finally allowed herself to break down. Ever since this had all started, she hadn't thought about all that she had lost that day, but now it was all coming forward full force. No longer caring about what was wise, she began to weep in full force.

    There had been several other times in her life when the same sense of overwhelming grief had hit her. The loss of her parents, when Vision had been taken and destroyed, the loss of her children... all of those moments had been so painful at the time and afterwards. But now she was completely alone, having found no one who could help her as of yet. That made this time even worse. Even with knowing that she had come through each of those tragedies in the end, she still could not help but feel that things would never get better this time around.

    She wasn't certain how long she spent crying, the full impact of the loss she had experienced coming to the surface. Wanda cried not only for the loss of love, she also wept for the loss of those she had thought of as being her family. If she was able to clear her name, she didn't know whether or not she could rejoin the team any time soon. The way that they had so completely accepted the idea that she would do such a thing hurt deeply, and even with knowing that there was something that was likely making them feel that way the feeling of betrayal still held strong.

    When she was done with her tears, Wanda went to the bathroom to wash off her face. She recalled when her memories of the boys had been restored, how it had felt like everything that was even remotely sad was enough to send her into spasms of weeping. It had felt so embarrassing to have so little control over her own emotions, and it was a relief when it had begun to fade away. This time she couldn't afford to lose control like that, because with every moment the chances of being discovered grew. She had to know who could help her soon, before she was beyond any sort of help.

    “Well, back to the book,” she stated, knowing that with all of the bad results she'd gotten before it was necessary to streamline her approach. The spell itself was working just fine, but she had to adjust the parameters of it in order to gain knowledge that was useful.

    A few pages beyond the section that pertained to the scrying of various things, there was a listing of things that could help to refine one's search. The top ways of doing so were to sacrifice a part of one's self or something related to what you were seeking to find. Wanda thought about what would be the best option for her. She wasn't sure as to what giving up a part of yourself actually meant – did it have to be something like blood, or would a possession be good enough? There wasn't anything in the text to point her in any direction, so she chose to not go for that option.

    So what did she have related to what she was searching for? It took some time to puzzle through the dilemma, but in the end it took just two questions to find the right answer. What was Wanda looking for? Someone who could help her. And who would be someone who could help you in a situation like this? Another Avenger.

    Her path was now clear. She went to grab one of the only other things she had taken with her that held any sort of value – the card that identified her as a member of the Avengers. For so long it had been one of her most prized possessions, but right now it would do better serving a different purpose. (There was also the fact that she wasn't sure if she would want to have it any longer, with what had happened.)

    This time, there wasn't a person immediately visible in the mist. Instead there was an image of a bird surrounded by fire, and then the one who could help her was revealed.

    Firebird. Bonita Juarez, who had worked as an Avenger mostly on the West Coast team, who lived in New Mexico, was a social worker, devoutly religious, and had briefly dated Hank Pym. Wanda really couldn't say she knew her well – the last time they had worked together had been during Kang's takeover of Earth. She'd always seemed like a kind person, and since the two of them weren't close in the slightest it seemed unlikely anyone would look for her there. At the same time, the fact that neither one knew each other all that well might mean that Bonita wasn't going to react well to seeing Wanda show up at her door suddenly. If she were to travel all the way to New Mexico and be rejected, it would almost certainly mean that she had nowhere else to go.

    So the question remained: should she try and see if anyone else might be able to provide help, or take a chance with Bonita? But who else _would_ be able to help? Given the situation, there was no way she could possibly go to anyone who wasn't a hero in some way. It was too much to ask a civilian to go up against magic, no matter how willing they might be. And the only other people she could think of who she had any measure of a connection with were some of the various magic-users in the world, and Wanda could safely say that she knew them even less than Firebird. There was also the concern of whether or not her own spell had fallen prey to whatever was haunting the team. If that were the case, then by following the path her viewing had shown was likely to lead to some kind of trap.

    All of these questions felt like too much to handle right now. Instead, she opened a package of crackers she had bought, wishing that it could be a real meal. She would decide by the evening.

 

* * *

 

    What finally caused Wanda to make up her mind was the feeling she kept having. It was the impression that someone was watching her every move, and was not happy with her. And then there was a sudden blast of cold, as if a trace of winter had shown up suddenly in the warmer months. She still remembered the time Agatha had shown her how to know if you were being watched in some way via magic. “Look for the signs, like the hair raising up on your neck. A sudden chill in the room is another major one, and if that starts happening you need to find a way to shield yourself.”

    She had asked then “But things like that can happen for any reason. How am I supposed to tell the difference between a brief chill and malicious magic?”

     “Take some salt and spread it around yourself if you feel something is wrong. If the signs fade away after that, then you know you're being watched.”

    She had taken a few things of salt from the store where she had bought her food, although her purpose then had been to add a little flavor to something that might be too bland. And when she tore open the package, she knew it was do or die time. If this didn't work, then she would have to consider the option that she really had gone crazy and may have done the things she was blamed for.

     As soon as the circle around her was complete, the first thing Wanda noticed was the grains of salt starting to snap. The second thing was the sense of shock that was now echoing throughout the room. The shock faded away and was met with anger. That settled it – someone was actively trying to cause her and the Avengers harm. Fear and relief fought in equal measure within her, for while it was a good thing to know that you really were innocent there was also the fact that everyone who was an Avenger could be in danger. If they couldn't go after her, then who would be the next target? Might every member, past and present, be discredited and framed for horrendous acts? There could be no time to waste.

    The first thing to do was figure out how it would be best to get there. The fastest way would be to fly, but there were two challenges that made the option unlikely. The biggest one was the money issue. A quick check of flights to New Mexico showed that her current level of funds wouldn't be enough to get her there unless she waited to leave for a while. And since Wanda lacked any form of ID with her, she wouldn't have been able to board the plane even if she could afford the ticket. That left two choices: either a train or a bus.

    The train was ruled out very quickly, because there wasn't one leaving New York anytime soon that would put her close enough to Bonita's home. A train trip would also entail spending more money than she felt comfortable right now, so that left a bus trip as the only option. So she went ahead with looking for one that was both leaving fairly soon and also would get her where she needed to be.

    As it turned out, there wasn't any bus leaving the city soon that would take her to Bonita's home. Wanda was almost ready to give up when she noticed that the next day there would be a bus leaving for Cleveland that wasn't too expensive. From Cleveland she would only have to wait half a day before continuing on her trip. If this worked out, she would be at Bonita's in almost four days.

    Even though the cost of a bus ticket was fairly reasonable, it would still take the vast majority of Wanda's remaining money. So she then set out to make an inventory of the food she had to see if it was going to be enough to last her the entire time. Based on what she thought she would need, it looked like at some point she would need to get some more food at one of the stops along the way. Vowing to make certain that she still had something to tide her over when she reached the final stop, she began to put together the food into groups that would be consumed each day of the trip. The “meals” were fairly small, but she knew she wasn't going to be doing all that much while traveling. Her stomach rumbling a little bit wasn't something that would be too hard to endure.

    The departure time wasn't until six in the morning, but Wanda made the choice to leave the room right away. It was doubtful that there would be no space left by then if the bus wasn't already full yet, but she knew that staying here too much longer increased the chance of someone finding her. Whether it would more likely to be whoever was menacing the team or one of her teammates wasn't clear, but neither would be a good thing.

    (What would be the worst of the two wasn't clear either, a thought that didn't feel any less distressing than it had before.)

    Making certain she had all her belongings with her, Wanda once again found herself taking off.

 

* * *

 

    The man cursed once he realized the witch was no longer visible to him. _Damn her._ He'd been sure that no one was going to figure out what was going on, since no one knew of what he wished to do. At first the Scarlet Witch hadn't been a major part of his plans, but when he'd been working to put forward the first stage of the plan he'd seen her with Iron Man. And then a change of plans had become necessary. Just going and framing Tony Stark as having fallen off the wagon wasn't going to work out if there was someone there who could testify as to his sobriety prior to the speech.

    From all of the times he'd used his powers, he'd learned that there were two types of people who were resistant to their use: mutants and spell-casters. Wanda Maximoff fell into both of those categories, and that made her an ever greater threat than she would have otherwise been. At first he had thought that it would be best if she were to simply leave the team, since that would be a relatively painless way of getting her out of his hair. So he'd gone and made the Wasp bring up her children in a callous manner, hoping to make her feel so uncomfortable that she would resign her membership at some point in the near future.

    From his previous attempts to get an Avenger off the team, he'd learned that it was a nearly impossible task. He'd thought that by taking away one's family unless they left would work out perfectly, but things hadn't worked out as he wished. Why had he spent his time working on the ex-wife instead of the judge in the case? In the end Ant-Man had been even more determined to stay, and it wasn't too much of a tragedy now that he was gone. (Even if it hadn't occurred the way people thought it had, he was still beyond the reach of others. And it added more ammunition to the fire if they thought more than one team member had been lost.)

    With all of those things, he had known just how to push everyone's buttons and make them see things the way he wanted them to. Before he'd thought of a big attack in order to push the Avengers to their breaking point, but over time had started to feel that a gradual approach would better serve his needs. Either the team would lose members until they no longer could go on as they had before, or their leadership would be so compromised that no one would take them seriously any longer. And then he could step in.

    Of course, knowing what he knew of his powers he could have just made everything like he wanted it to be without having to do anything, but he knew that he would feel dissatisfied doing so even if he got everything he wanted. It was important to _earn_ what he desired, no matter how much effort it took. So he waited, looking for just the right time to set everything into motion. And the speech had been the best time to strike.

    One of the things the man had learned from studying various incidents in the history of the Avengers was the importance of being flexible. He had no intentions to frame anyone for what was happening, but when the perfect opportunity had come up to do so he opted to move accordingly.

    There had been only one real flaw in the plan, one that no one seemed to have noticed. The whole basis for the Scarlet Witch doing such things was that she was angry at her teammates for keeping the knowledge about her children from her, and wanted to cause them harm. But one of her key actions during the attack had been to save Hawkeye from falling to his certain death. He guessed the shock of everything that was happening prevented anyone from thinking too much about the disconnect between motivation and action. The words of blame he had caused them to hear most likely further cemented any critical thoughts on the matter. (That was something he felt proud of, because while his powers did little on any user of magic he had realized that all that was necessary was for the sorcerer to say anything, and then he in turn could make his audience hear what he desired them to.)

    He did admit to feeling a little bad about causing this kind of trouble to her. He'd thought after he took care of the biggest problem he faced that they wouldn't need to have anything to do with each other, but fate had interfered. The only comfort was that she certainly didn't know his name or identity. No one did right now, but soon things would change. First he had to wait for a new team to take shape, one that would make things easier to work with. And then he would finally achieve his goals, and fulfill his dreams that had been formed since the day he had learned what he could do.

    The very best thing he had done was to go to that fair years ago. It had told him the means of his defeat, and enabled him to make sure that such events would never come about. He did wish that doing so hadn't caused the pain it did, but there were always sacrifices to be made to obtain a greater goal.

    It might have come as a surprise to anyone who might have gotten a glimpse of the man's thoughts to know that he did not wish to cause any permanent harm to the heroes. Otherwise, he would have made sure they all did not live through the attack he visited upon them. Two losses, with only one being a sure thing (the other he knew was not dead, but he was out of the way, hopefully for good), was a small price to pay. And with the way he could control things, the one who was lost would not be able to return until he dictated it.

    There had been two major surprises in his plan, both involving how others would react towards his plans. He had thought that Iron Man would be one of the easier heroes to affect, given the man's clear strain of mental weakness. People who lacked self-control in some areas were always easier to work with, at least that was how things had gone before. Yet there was a surprising amount of resistance towards his influence. He'd had to resort towards using physical affects in order to keep him from thinking over things too much and perhaps recognizing an outside force coming into play. A part of him wished that he had just gone and had the man killed, but he knew that he disliked having to go so far. If it became necessary to go farther, then he knew that he would do things to make Tony Stark look mentally unstable. People would accept that, they knew what he was like.

    The second one was a surprise for the opposite reason. He'd taken note of anyone who might pose a major threat towards his plans succeeding before starting anything, and there had been one person who he pegged as posing the greatest danger of all. But when he had started to keep watch on them, what he had seen was pathetic. They were fully at the mercy of their own mind, and the torment it was visiting upon them. There was no need to even try and make things work out poorly for him, because no matter how everything worked out he would collapse at some point in the future. If everything went as it was going, he would soon take the threat of himself off the table entirely. The man could only shake his head at seeing a dangerous force falling into a spiral of despair that grew each day. At one point, he would have felt sympathy for his foe, but by now only his agenda truly mattered.

     He did not think of himself as being a villain. That wasn't really a new thing for people who opposed the various heroes of the world, but in his case he could say that there was evidence supporting his beliefs. To start with, he had only used his abilities in small ways or in things that helped in assisting his plan. The only time he could look at having done something selfish was to change the result of that football game so that he could get a little extra money. Otherwise, he had given himself no promotions at work, had not caused any harm to people he didn't like, and had avoided doing things to make his life easier. Didn't that say something about what kind of man he truly was? He also had not used violence or simply caused another life to end directly. When he had done something that did result in the loss of life, he felt a deep regret. Not so much with the most recent time, as the only one he knew for certain had "died" couldn't really be said to be living. The first time, however, was a very different story. What he had done was the result of what was needed, but having caused two innocent lives to be erased still hurt to think about. He wished that he could say he was sorry, that things had only turned out like this because otherwise he would be defeated before he could accomplish all he needed to do. But that would have shown himself before he was ready, and therefore was impossible.

    And now all that waited was to count down the time until he was asked to join on a new venture. From there, he could continue to drive a wedge between teammates until he was the only one anyone could trust. That day would be the beginning of some major changes, changes that would serve to make the world a far better place than it was under the current order.

    So he sat and waited, knowing that at long last he was going to take on his proper role.

 

* * *

 

    There were very few times in his life that Pietro Maximoff could say he was as worried as he was now. The first time had been after the loss of their parents, when he and Wanda were struggling to just get by. The second was after he had been hurt and separated from the Avengers, and the third was when he thought he had lost both his wife and sister.

    Yet now there was something entirely new to fret over. While there was a small amount of relief he got from knowing his sister had enough sense to get out of there, he still had no idea where she might have gone. Steve hadn't seemed to really believe him when he asserted again and again that he had known nothing of Wanda's escape until he was informed of it happening. If it hadn't been for people who were able to vouch for his whereabouts the entire day, he suspected that he might still be being questioned.

    Everything that had happened over the last week felt so unreal. Pietro knew his sister better than he knew almost anyone else in the world, and the idea that she had gone insane so quickly seemed impossible to believe. He did have to admit that she had broken down in the past – but with everything that had gone on in her life during that time, who would blame her? Before that, one of the things that Pietro thought was Wanda's biggest strength was that no matter what life threw at her, she was always going to get back up. And once she had recovered, nothing about her seemed any different than before.

    Even if he could accept that something had caused her to lose her mind so completely that she would turn on her family like that, there was one aspect of it that made no sense at all to him: what happened to Vision. Out of all of their teammates, he was the one she had always been closest to save for perhaps himself. Even during the times when their relationship was not romantic, one could easily tell that they were close. If Wanda were to be so far gone that she would do such a thing, then shouldn't there be something in her behavior otherwise that had not been seen before?

    And he had seen her after everything was done. She hadn't seemed to be out of it. In fact, her major reaction appeared to be shock. She'd barely spoken, save for mumbling “No,” over and over. But there had been no further attacks, which didn't make sense. No reason for her suddenly ceasing to act was really given, and everyone just looked like that it was just how it was. But if Wanda was really capable of causing such devastation, then why did she just decide to stop?

    And for that matter, when had his sister's abilities ever been that extensive? Unlike his own powers, her talents were much harder to pin down. Until she had gone to receive training in magic, there were many times when they did nothing of real use in a fight, because what would happen as a result of a hex was entirely random. He felt that if Wanda really could go so far as to manipulate reality, then she would have done any number of things to fix her own life before she decided to attack the Avengers. Or even more importantly, why would she not just have made everyone trust her again after being exposed? It would be the most logical course of action.

    Pietro knew that he really couldn't ask any of those questions without risking trouble for himself. Steve had not been supportive of even allowing him to see his sister while they tried to think of what to do with her. He had pleaded his case, and was even willing to only see Wanda supervised if that was what it would take for a moment with her. In the end, it had been Tony who felt that it couldn't hurt to let him in. “If he does try something, then we should know right away. He wants to be there, so we should let him.”

    His first questions to Wanda had been if she was really there, if this was just someone who had taken on her form to cause havoc to the team. She had just said “Pietro, I didn't...” and shook her head. The words led him to believe that there was a chance that she was innocent in all this, but how could he prove that? The facts were clear: Wanda had been present for all of the events that occurred, and they had the word of Doctor Strange that she had caused them (Oddly enough, Pietro couldn't think of what exactly he had said. Whenever he tried to recall the words, his mind kept slipping away from him.) There was not a single soul who offered an alternative explanation for what had happened. It was Wanda, she was crazy, and that was that. As far back as he could recall, whenever something had happened involving a team member there had always been a great deal of soul-searching. What made _this_ time any different than the ones before?

    While a part of him wanted to ascribe their actions towards an ingrained level of prejudice that they held, he knew Steve in particular too well to say he was capable of that. Was it just that the attacks had left the team so unsteady that once they were given an answer they jumped on it without too much thought?

    Not finding any answers by thinking on the subject, Pietro found his thoughts returning to Wanda and where she might be now. He hoped that the reason she hadn't made contact with him by now was because of fear for his safety and not because she was unable to reach anyone. The idea that whoever had framed her might have also been responsible for her disappearance was one that had crossed his mind before, and what would happen in that case didn't bear much thinking about. The only measure of comfort he could take was that even if someone else was choosing to frame Wanda for what they were doing that they would have nothing to gain by taking her.

    He knew that there were people who would wonder why he felt so strongly about his sister. He still remembered hearing someone say “I love my brother, but I'd never pay so much attention to what he's doing.” The comments had been made in response to his disapproval of Wanda's relationship with Vision. He was now able to look back and see how foolish he had been, but at the time all he could see was the reaction she would certainly get from the public. His fears had unfortunately been proven correct, although now he could safely say that the joy she had gotten far outweighed the pain that came. But with how their lives had gone before, Pietro desperately wanted to avoid seeing anyone he loved be hurt. One of the few people he had been able to share how difficult their lives had been after losing their parents was Crystal. She had listen to him talk about the fear that ruled every moment of their lives, how they were doubly marked for having shown themselves to be mutants as well as Roma. It was in her listening and empathy that he had fallen in love with her, and he still could look to her and see those qualities today.

    And once again his thoughts traveled to a painful area. Pietro normally tried to avoid thinking of his ex-wife, whether it be in a positive or negative way. The only thing he allowed himself to think of in regards to Crystal was that she had given him Luna, and that was the greatest thing he had ever been given.

    It was getting late, and he went to look and see if there were any messages left for him on his phone. There was nothing, from either Wanda or any of the other Avengers. While this meant that she had not been found, it also told him that for whatever reason she was not able to reach him. Trying to guess what that reason might be was just causing him more stress, so he just bowed his head and prayed.

 _Father... I ask you to please watch over Wanda and keep her safe, no matter where she might be. Give us the chance to uncover the truth, even if that truth is not what we wish to hear. If it is possible, show us the path to follow._ He wished there was a patron saint of mutants he could petition, but understood why such a thing was not able to be done yet.

    Pietro then went through the rest of his nighttime rituals, asking for health and good fortune to Luna and Crystal, and the strength to carry on through this crisis.

    And as he shut his eyes to sleep, he almost could swear he heard a familiar voice saying “The truth will be known.”

 


	3. Journeys

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wanda begins her trip, and a woman is in trouble. But a revelation that comes from family might change everything.

    It was only when she was seated in her seat and beginning the journey to Bonita's that Wanda allowed herself to think things might turn out okay. No one had paid her any attention at the station, even though the entire time she had been on edge, expecting to be grabbed away. All she had done was pay for her ticket and then proceed to sit and wait for the moment of departure.

    She had a window seat, which would at least give her something to do during the long trip. She regretted not using some of her money earlier to at least get a magazine or something. There was always the option of her magic books, but the bus looked as if it was going to be pretty full and the books would likely raise some questions she couldn't answer.

    “Hi there. Looks like I'm next to you today. My name's Ruth. You are?” An elderly woman had sat down in the seat next to her. She looked like she was eager to start a conversation, so Wanda opt to respond.

    “I'm Wendy.” It was the first name she could think of, and it was close enough to her actual one that if Ruth called her that she would think to answer. “Where are you going?”

    “Columbus. My granddaughters have moved out there, and they've been after me to come for a visit. 'If you need to, we'll pay to get you here Nana,' they've been telling me. Well, I'm fully retired now so I said why not? I looked at plane tickets but they were a little more than I wanted to spend. So I've settled myself in for a long trip. I'm almost ninety now, so I can see the value in taking some time to relax instead of rushing out.”

    There was a certain toughness in her manner in addition to the aura of a loving grandmother. She gave her a smile and said “I bet they'll love to have you come. Are you changing buses in Cleveland, too?”

    “Yes. I nearly went direct from Boston, but it was cheaper to just take the express to New York and then go on to Ohio. Got me there a lot faster, too. Otherwise I would have had to stop in Springfield and Hartford. And let me ask you, what was I supposed to do there? I've got a book in my bag and some crosswords, but I've got nearly ten hours on the bus to go, not counting when we change over. I need to keep something in store for when I don't want to talk to anyone. Where are you going?”

    “Phoenix.” She felt guilty about lying to her seat-mate, but knew that it was important to leave no trail of where she was really headed. “A friend of mine has been sick and I'm going to stay with her for a while.” There was a kernel of truth in that she was seeing a friend, even if nothing else was right.

    “All the way to Arizona, huh? You're going to be pretty tired once you get there. My daughter's been to Australia a few times, and she says that it's such a long plane ride you're going nuts at the end. At least this way you can get out when we make a stop, although I can't imagine there's going to be much at a bus station.” Ruth then went for a more personal question. “So, anybody at home waiting for you to come back?”

    It wasn't meant as an unkind question, yet it still brought tears to Wanda's eyes. “No. I had two children once, but I lost them over four years ago. Sometimes it still hurts...”

    Her hand went to her mouth. “Oh, God. I'm sorry I asked. Both of them? What happened? Was it an accident, or something else?”

    “An accident, yes. In a second both my boys were gone. I was in so much pain for a while, I even lost my mind for a bit. My husband, he was taken around the same time.” Phrasing her answer in such a way made it sound like whatever had taken Billy and Tommy's lives had also been responsible for what happened to Vision. Based on what she had seen from Ruth, it didn't feel likely she would do anything even if she knew the whole story. Yet knowing the truth might make her a target as well, and therefore it was important to keep things hidden.

    “Well, I can see why you might have lost it a bit under all that stress. My mother lost two of her children, and even though she had so many who lived I think that she always wondered what might have become of the twins. For me it was losing my husband too soon. We hadn't even been married twenty years when he had a heart attack one day. In a few hours he was gone. That was nearly fifty years ago. My friends all didn't really know what to do, because I was the first of them to be widowed. And with my youngest daughter just being five and it being so close to Christmas when John died, well I could see myself having the same reaction.” She put her hand on Wanda's arm. “I don't think you can ever really get over loss, not the way people say. I've spent more than half my life as a widow, and while it hasn't been as bad as it was in the beginning I won't say I'm over it. Pretty much all of my brothers and sisters are gone now, and I had sixteen of them! But I have my three daughters, two sons-in-law, and four grandchildren. Having them around makes all the difference.”

    The words rang true to her. “I understand. I had my friends to help me after I got better, and I've always been grateful for that. The only other member of my family I had to help was my brother, and he was having problems of his own then, so he couldn't be there the way he wanted to.” It wasn't until some time after everything had been resolved that Pietro had expressed his regret over not having been able to help her in her time of greatest despair. He believed that if he had supported Wanda, she wouldn't have fallen apart like she did. She doubted that, given how fast she had gone to pieces, feeling such despair that she didn't even want to get up. No matter how much she loved her brother, his ability to make that situation better was not enough.

    Ruth just nodded, and for a while they sat silently, watching the world go by. Wanda knew it would be about ninety minutes before they got into Pennsylvania, and that was without stopping. The route they were taking was going to bring them through upstate New York before going into Ohio, but there were only two real stops during the trip, Syracuse and Buffalo. She wasn't sure if she would get off in either stop, just to lower the risk of being spotted.

    Her thoughts then went towards what might happen when she got to Bonita's home. Would she be willing to listen, or would she turn her over to the other Avenger's before hearing her story? The spell had said she would be able to help, but being able to and actually doing so were two different things. And then there was the possibility that while Bonita might not turn her in, she might not be willing to assist her. That didn't seem likely, based on what Wanda knew of her personality, but the chance had to be acknowledged.

    It might have been all the stress she was under, but Wanda soon found her eyes drooping shut. She was awakened by Ruth saying “We've stopped for now. Do you want to get off, or just stay here?”

    "Stay. I'm not hungry and don't need to stretch my legs now, so I might as well not bother." This time her words were completely truthful. They weren't going to be spending all that much time here, so getting up felt unnecessary.

    "Well, I'm going to get some coffee." She left and Wanda was sitting alone. She wondered if whoever ended up sitting next to her next would be as pleasant as Ruth, or if they would rather be left alone. That was something she could understand, and while feeling glad to have someone to talk to was just as happy with the silence.

    Some of the other people who hadn't gotten off began to move around a bit, and some reached into the bins to get something from their bags. She overheard one person saying "We need to call Aunt Kim before we get to Chicago. She told us we need to give her plenty of time to get there."

    One woman in particular who walked past her seemed to have an interesting story. "Yeah, I'm coming home. I know it's earlier than I planned, but remember that guy and girl I was going to meet? Turns out there was no guy, just the girl, and she was really weird.... Well, anyway I'm on my way home now." What else had happened never came up, because she walked away from Wanda before any more of the story could be told.

    Ruth was now coming back with a cup of coffee. "The line wasn't as bad as I thought. Helps that I told everybody I couldn't see all that well and wanted to make sure I got back to my bus on time."

    "Oh, I didn't know. If I had known I would have gone with you and helped out."

    She waved her hand. "It's alright. Just makes it harder to read and I can't drive anymore. Got to get my daughter to take me places or take the senior bus. Not my idea of a good time, but you can't just sit around the house all day. So, what is it you for a living?"

    "I work in Human Resources." Wanda had planned out what she would say in response to that question before she had even bought her ticket. Picking a job that was interesting to a lot of people would lead to questions about her profession that couldn't be answered, so something mundane like HR was a safe bet.

    “Well, at least you have some job security. Until I couldn't drive I was one of the heads of housekeeping at a nursing home. Might have left even if I could still see right, because it was getting depressing to realize that the people at the home were younger than you are.”

    Wanda just nodded, and the two women sat without saying another word.

* * *

 

    When the bus stopped in Buffalo, it was Wanda who got off while Ruth stayed on board. She had fallen asleep herself a short time ago, and did not stir even when she moved to get out. Guessing that it must be around three and a half hours left until they arrived in Ohio, she knew that staying still for much longer would drive her nuts.

    She spent most of the time browsing in one of those magazine stores that seem to go along with any place that serves as a launching point for journeys. Before leaving, she bought a book, which took up the majority of her remaining money, but would keep her occupied during the rest of the trip. It was risky to leave herself with so little funds, but as the trip had gone on Wanda felt her hopes rising. While she had no reason to feel that way, she suspected that if she did not feel hope that it would be impossible to keep going on.

    After getting back on the bus, the remainder of the trip to Cleveland was spent watching the scenery pass by, eating some of the food she had with her, and chatting with Ruth when she woke up. By the time they reached the changeover point, it was almost seven in the evening. She was asked “Do you want to get dinner while we're waiting?”

    “Oh no, that's fine. I've eaten a bit already. It's not important.”

    “Why not? It'll be my treat. I've still got enough money to last me a bit. I really should have thought of taking this trip on the bus earlier. Can't believe I saved that much.”

    Her own feelings of hunger as well as not knowing when she would be getting a real meal made Wanda give in. “All right, if you insist.”

    The closest place next to the station was a Denny's, and while it wasn't the highest quality of dining it also wasn't anything unusual or risky. Wanda chose to get a burger and fries, while Ruth had a sandwich. Neither one spoke all that much during the meal, instead choosing to focus on food. Being on a time limit didn't help, even though there should have been enough time to make the next bus. But they were fortunate and were able to get back with time to spare.

    By the time Ruth reached her final destination in Columbus, they were both sorry to see the other go. The hour was nearly midnight, but both were still awake. It's often hard to sit by someone for such a length of time and not emerge thinking well of them. As she got up to leave, she told Wanda “I hope that your friend is going to be alright.”

    “Thank you. I'm hoping for the same.” And so she was. If Bonita didn't accept her, then there really were no options left other than Pietro.

    She took a risk when the bus pulled back onto the highway by checking her phone. There was the chance that it could be used to track her, but Wanda wanted to see if there was anything about her in the news.

    While nothing related to her was there, she did see a story about a new team of Avengers that had been involved in some mission. The real surprise was that three of them were entirely new additions, which was a higher number than you would normally see. In her memory, the only time that had happened had been when she, Pietro, and Clint all became members. And one of these new members she had never even heard of. Well, you had to get started somewhere. Maybe he'd gotten involved by chance and was asked to join then. The only real question she had was why none of the more established members of the team had come on for this. How likely would it be that they were all too busy to join?

    Not devoting much time to thinking about that, Wanda curled up and tried to get a little sleep. She still had a long way to go, and there wouldn't be much time to rest along the way.

    With the sound of the engine humming, she drifted off.

* * *

 

    The coffee shop was pretty much like hundreds of others like it - a place where you could go get a cup of coffee or a little something else quickly. Like most establishments of its type, it was busiest in the morning, which was when Kasher was working.

    He got a smile on his face when he saw Anna walk in the door. She was one of his favorite customers, even though there were some things about her that were a bit odd. She didn't seem to speak to anyone, and she was rather cagey on what it was she did for a living. At times she would say she stayed at home, but as far as Kasher knew she wasn't married, or at least she didn't wear a ring. Also, Anna seemed to not know all that much about popular culture, even things that had so penetrated the public's consciousness that almost everyone could tell you something about them. What made him honestly worried much of the time about her was the level of nervousness she displayed. Anna seemed to be a person who was constantly watching her back. At one time he had wondered if she was some kind of escaped fugitive, but there didn't look to be anyone who was wanted that looked similar to her. Kasher could best guess that she might have been fleeing a bad relationship, but since she said nothing on the issue he wasn't certain.

    "Hi, Anna. Coming in alone today?"

    "Yes, I'm meeting someone and it's easier to talk when there's no listening ears around." Anna normally came in with members of her family, and usually would get a bunch of cake pops to share. Her being alone was less of a surprise than her meeting someone. She had confided in Kasher that there was only one person she had any sort of friendship with, and "she doesn't know everything." After those words had come out of her mouth, she had been startled so much she left without her coffee. That had been the day when Anna's oddness transformed into something else, even though what it was remained unclear.

    "Alright then. What can I get you?"

    "Just a black coffee. I'm not in the mood for anything else."

    "That shouldn't be a problem. One black coffee, coming right up!"

    As he walked over to began making the order, a second woman walked in. She was somewhat taller than normal, but otherwise wouldn't have stood out in the crowd. She scanned the place over and smiled when she saw Anna. The two of them hugged and sat down at one of the tables next to the bathroom.

    He knew that you weren't supposed to listen in to what people were talking about, but it was hard not to sometimes. He had gone to give Anna her coffee when he heard the other woman say “You know that it's the right thing to do. How long has it been since we got a message?”

    “I understand, and I would have gone to them before, but then...” Kasher went and placed the coffee right next to her,and walked over to the counter. He kept an ear open, and the next thing he heard was “If it hadn't been for that I would have gone by now. But what do you think they'll say to it having been so long and me not...” The rest of her words were drowned out by another customer placing an order.

    The second woman then said “But you need to think about it. I don't know how much more help I'll be able to give you. How do you expect to get a job, to say nothing about school, when you don't have any paperwork?”

    Paperwork? He hadn't thought that Anna came from another country, as her English was perfect and she didn't seem to have an accent. If she was here illegally, then that might explain some of her strange behavior. Kasher then went back to making a drink, and for a time didn't hear anything from the table. But as soon as the rush died down he turned his ears back over.

    The other woman was saying “I know if you tell them about his father and how you got here they'll give you whatever you might need. I bet they would be able to find...” A shout from a man who was angry he had not gotten all of the packets of sugar he had asked for made whatever she said next inaudible.

    “Maybe. But if they could find them, then what do you think they'd say? There's only two reasons they haven't been looking: either they are dead or don't care.”

    “You don't know for sure they haven't been looking. You only checked locally. They could be from anywhere. That's why you need to go and speak with them! If not for you, Anna, then do it for him.”

    Anna shook her head. “There's something else that's been happening over the last few weeks. I keep feeling like someone is following me when I go out. I'm afraid that they're trying to take us back home. And with what I can guess happened, we won't get a warm welcome. I know they would think to check for us there. Do you think that...” She glanced around and leaned into her friend's face to say more. Whatever it might have been, Kasher couldn't hear.

    The conversation had confirmed that there was something wrong with Anna. She was on the run for some reason. He wondered about the references to “his” father. Why hadn't she said “their”? Didn't she have more than one child?

    “They did in the past. For someone they knew that well, they would stand up to any forces going against them. I saw some of that before. You have connections to them, and having that kind of strength on your side would keep both of you safer than you could be otherwise.”

    Anna didn't say anything, instead drinking her coffee for a while. When she did speak, it was to say “You know it's different for you. If they were to come looking for you as well, then you know there would be people to help you. I can easily see them helping out the others, but I might not get that protection.”

    “You've got a little too much faith in what might happen with me. Haven't you known what I've done? I did get the others to trust me, but that was based on me being dishonest to them. Put yourself in their shoes, and think about how you'd feel if someone did something like that to you.”

    “You were doing what you were told to do. If that were to happen with me, I would try to understand why the person did something like that and if they had a choice in the matter.”

    The friend of Anna's had clearly done something wrong. Kasher hoped that it wasn't something illegal, because that would make things with Anna in the future feel awkward. (He had to admit that even if she had broken the law, he had no idea what her name might be or who he could talk to anyway, even if he wanted to report something.) Now even more interested, he moved in closer.

    “I can tell why you were given such a responsibility. You're too forgiving. I'd be so angry at whoever lied to me like that that I wouldn't want to hear what they had to say. Maybe that's why I can't go back.” At least it sounded like she hadn't done something illegal. He thought that maybe she had cheated on a boyfriend or husband. That would explain why she was talking so much about trust. But then what was Anna talking about when she said her friend did what she was told to do? Could she be some kind of spy or something?

    The idea felt absurd as he came up with it. What would a spy be doing in some town in New Jersey? There wasn't anything related to the government here, and there also wasn't any major industries that a spy could be looking at.  _You've been watching too much television,_ he told himself.

    “I wish I had told her to come with us too. Then we wouldn't be in this mess now.”

    “Do you think that even if you had begged her she would have done it? She had duties that couldn't be ignored, even with the unrest. She knew how things were going to turn out, and what the safest place for him would be.”

    One thing that Kasher had noticed and found significant was that other than Anna's, neither woman used any names while they were talking. It was clear that both of them were trying to keep from sharing too much in public, but he knew the names of her family already. What kept her from even saying those?

    “You're right.” She looked around again. “I wish we had just done this at home. Too many ears in here.”

    “And how would you explain me to everyone? Who is with them right now, anyway?”

    “Rebecca's there right now. I feel bad about taking advantage of her like this. She's always asking me questions about my family and what happened. I hate having to lie to her, but she would be in danger if she knew anymore than what I've told her.” She got a serious look on her face. “She told me an interesting story a week or so ago.”

    “She did? What happened?”

    “Well, you know how she's had problems with having children. But there was a time when she thought that it would be easy. Almost fifteen years ago, just after she got married, she started having symptoms of pregnancy. So she took a few tests and they all came up positive, and when she went to see her doctor she was given a blood test and sure enough it looked like she was pregnant. For the next few weeks, everything went normally and she was making plans when one morning she woke up not feeling sick for the first time. Rebecca said at first that she just thought she was getting over her morning sickness, but when she didn't feel any of the other things she was feeling she knew something was wrong. Sure enough, at the next appointment she had she wasn't pregnant anymore."

    "She lost the baby? That doesn't sound too unusual."

    "Here's why it was so strange. She never had any bleeding or something like that. It was just like she'd never been pregnant in the first place. And here's something else. When she and her husband were trying to have a child years later, they weren't having any luck. Rebecca went to go get checked out and see what she could do about it, and what the doctor said shocked her. After they did a whole bunch of tests on both of them, they said that without surgery there was no way she could possibly have a baby. She told them that couldn't be true, because she had been pregnant a few years back. But based on what they were seeing, her problems had to have begun years ago. It was completely impossible that she might have just had things go wrong in the last few years based on the level of trouble. Eventually she did get the operation and had her first child, but what exactly happened was a mystery to her. I think that the most confusing thing about all this was that it couldn't just be written off as being one off test. Maybe the ones she took at home were wrong, but what about the ones her doctor did?"

    “People can make mistakes. She might have misjudged the signs of something different as being pregnant. But you're right – that is a strange story.” The friend of Anna got up. “I need to be going now. Please think about what I said. I don't want you to get in trouble, okay?”

    “I'll think about it,” she said, but based on her tone Kasher doubted she would go through with whatever it was her friend wanted her to do. “Let me know the next time we can meet up.”

    Now she was alone, and for a few moments Kasher just stood watching her. Most of the time he didn't think too much about his customers, but Anna was one of his regulars and someone who would talk to him in a friendly way. Her being in some kind of trouble disturbed him, and he wished there was something he could do to help. What he did was walk over to her table and ask “Are you okay?”

    Her posture was wary. “How much did you hear?”

    “Enough to guess you might be in some kind of trouble. Is there anything I might be able to do to help you?”

    “No. It's far too big for you to be able to do anything about it.”

    The next question he had to ask. “Is this something that you did wrong?” He didn't know how she would feel by being asked such a question, or even if she would answer it. Asking at least made Kasher feel like he was doing something.

    Anna did not look at him when she spoke. “I can tell you that I'm not really a criminal or something like that. But if I told you any more than that, there's a chance you could get in trouble with the wrong people. I can't risk that. You're one of the few people I'm close to, Kasher, and I won't take any risks with you.”

    “What about your friend who was just here?”

    “We aren't all that close. She's just in a similar situation to me, but for different reasons.” She got up. “I need to be getting home now.”

    Another worker had just come in to begin their shift, and he took advantage of that to make a quick purchase. “Anna, wait. Before you go, I thought you might like to have this.” In his hand were three cake pops. “So nobody has to share.”

    A glowing smile was her response to the treat. “Thank you for being so kind to me. I hope one day I might be able to tell you more.”

    As she left, Kasher hoped that Anna could get some help soon. It was clear she was in over her head, no matter what the trouble was. He wondered who it was who might be able to help her.

* * *

 

    Martha Williams wasn't the kind of person who liked entertaining guests, but today was an exception. When Sanford had been alive, he had enjoyed having people over, especially if they were important to his company. It was one of the things they had disagreed on, but it was also the one thing that she felt few regrets about. Her husband had normally shown her nothing but the highest regard, but his sons were a very different story. She suspected that it was in part due to being told before her wedding that a marriage was happiest when you and your spouse were in agreement that kept her from speaking up about how harsh he was to Eric and Simon.

    She never had been consciously afraid of Sanford. At worst he had raised his voice to her occasionally, which was nothing compared to when he took out the belt for his children. Her family had told her whenever she raised concerns about how they were being treated that there were some children who needed a little bit of a harsher hand. No one ever came out and said it, but Martha knew they were talking about Eric. She wished that she had thought of getting some help when he was young, because then what he became could have been avoided.

    Thinking of her children always made her smile as she thought about the one who Sanford had never even met. Her youngest could be said to have an even worse father than her older two, but from the first day they had met she had known that Vision had none of his father's malice in him. It was so funny, getting another son at the age that most women were starting to become grandmothers. In fact, she had become a grandmother within a year herself.

    Those thoughts sent her down a path of thinking of her losses. At various points all of her children had been either dead or thought to be so. The loss of her grandsons had been even worse, because she knew they were gone for good. With Simon his powers likely played a role in his return, and she still didn't know what had really happened with Eric. Not that it mattered to her. Even with what he became, she could still remember holding him in her arms shortly after his birth, and the love she had felt then. That feeling had never really gone away.

    She'd gotten together a few things to eat, and was waiting for her guest to show up. Martha wished that it would be a happy reason that she was having company, not yet another loss. She had once mentioned to a friend how much it had hurt when Vision was disassembled, and the friend had asked her "But it's not like you lost one of your real children. They could just put him back together, right?" The words had felt so cruel that she had left and wept for some time. How was she to know if repairing Vision would leave him the same man? The end results had confirmed her worst fears, and what had happened afterwards was even worse than she ever could have imagined.

    The doorbell rang, and she walked over to open it. Simon was standing there, and said "Hi, Mom."

    "Oh, it's so good to see you after all those terrible things happened. I tried to get a hold of some other team members, but none of them answered their phones." Martha only really would describe herself as being even somewhat close to a few of the Avengers, so she didn't know if the reason they weren't answering was due to being busy or if they were seriously hurt. “It's good of you to finally make some time to come and visit your mother.”

    Simon looked exhausted. She wished she hadn't made the joke. “I'm sorry, Mom. I would have come sooner, but there's been so much going on in the last week or so that it slipped my mind.”

    “I know things have to be bad, or I would have heard more from you by now. What on Earth happened at the mansion?” Typically you could eventually hear some information about what the Avengers had been up to recently, and the news had reported the destruction at the mansion. But nothing else had come out as of yet. She knew that there were times that everything couldn't be revealed – when Simon had first talked about a mission of theirs involving aliens it had thrown Martha's mind. By the time she had gotten to know her daughter-in-law, learning that magic was a real force in the world wasn't quite as shocking as it might have been when she was younger. And no matter what her thoughts on magic might have been otherwise, the fact that it had given her two grandchildren made it a positive force in her eyes.

    Wanda had been the main Avenger she had tried to contact since the attack. They had last spoken several weeks ago about how her life was going and the changes in her relationship with Vision. Since the loss of the boys, regular visits no longer took place. The first time afterwards when Wanda had come to see her was a joyous time for Martha. She had wanted to help her out during her time of grief, and from that day onward while they still did not talk regularly it happened enough to be expected. Usually when they had spoken it was about what was happening with the Avengers, although she didn't always get every single detail.

    The only real time there had been any tension between them was during the period of time when Wanda and Simon had dated. Martha would have been happy for them under most circumstances, but one thing made her wonder if it was a good idea: what Simon had done after Vision was dissembled. His refusal to do anything that might help to bring his brother back to normal had made her very upset. She spoke with Simon at one point on the issue, giving him the type of lecture only a mother could. He hadn't been able to really explain why he was refusing, and when the lecture was done he had promised to speak with Dr. Pym about performing the procedure. Yet it was never done and Simon had denied ever talking about it with her afterwards. While their rift had been repaired, she still felt that his relationship with Wanda was going to end badly. If it was like she suspected and she was still in love with Vision but was not able to move forward with him it would only end in heartbreak.

    It was a stroke of good fortune that everything had turned out the way it had. Both of them had come to the realization that their feelings hadn't been as strong as they would have liked to think, and it was better for them to just be friends. Martha had been afraid that when things ended she would be torn between her feelings for both Wanda and Simon. She would have gone with her son for the most part, of course, but that wouldn't have meant that she wouldn't have tried to reach out to Wanda in some way.

    “What happened. This is going to take a long time to explain. I'll start by telling you that both Vision and Ant-Man are dead.”

    She gasped. “Oh, no! That must be why Wanda hasn't been answering me. Where is she now?”

    Simon looked guilty as he listened to her speak. “That's actually part of the problem. All of the things that happened then – they were because of Wanda. She's lost her mind.”

    Now this was something she never would have considered. Martha had heard second-hand about what had happened following the loss of all she loved, and couldn't blame the poor woman. How many people could handle losing their marriage and children in such a short period of time, especially in the way it had all happened? Wanda had on occasion spoke of her “dark time”, as she called it. Based on what Martha had seen of her over the past few years, she was right now perfectly ordinary. “I can't believe it. How did that happen?”

    “Well, it started when Jan said something about her children to her. Since she didn't remember them, learning that she had and lost them must have done a number on her. And knowing we kept that knowledge from her must have twisted her feelings about all of us and make her want to get back at the Avengers. There was some other stuff about her powers, but I really don't remember that now.” Simon sounded so miserable as he related his account that his mother placed her arm around him. “And with all this, we made the choice not to put another team together. I have heard that a new bunch of people are working with Cap and Iron Man right now, but most of them haven't been members before.”

    She could only shake her head and say, “Simon, that can't possibly be right.”

    “I know that it's hard to accept. We should have noticed Wanda losing her grip before things got that bad. But if you saw what happened, then you'd believe it.”

    He wasn't getting it. “Maybe Wanda did go mad and cause harm to the team. But it's not possible that it happened in the way you told me.”

    Now Simon just looked confused. “Well, you know that her powers can do all kinds of things. So even though she's never done anything to this level before it doesn't mean she couldn't do it.”

    “But I'm not talking about what she might have done. I'm talking about the reason she did it.”

    “Why? What's wrong with the reason?”

    “Because I was speaking with Wanda almost three weeks ago now. And one of the things we talked about was Billy and Tommy. So how is it possible that her memory of having the boys was triggered when she already knew about them?”

 


	4. The Unknown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There are several kinds of heroes, and the least among them may hold the keys.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With this chapter, I can safely say that if you know anything about these two characters before reading this then you're a far bigger fan than I am.

    When it comes to being a costumed hero, most of the time it's generally accepted that there are multiple tiers of renown.

    The first level is the ones that everybody will know right away. Captain America, for example. If you were trying to think of a hero these are the names that will pop up right away. Almost all of them were held in the highest regard by the public, and you could expect to hear their names in the news on a regular basis.

    Second level heroes were ones who were predominately associated with one team or another. The Wasp was one of the better examples of this type. People knew them pretty well, and you could go and find a story about them fairly easily, but they weren't the first ones you would think of if asked to name a hero, unless you followed their team very closely.

    The third category was one that really moved away from recognition. Sometimes these people were involved with a team that was well-known, but a lot of them were members of more uncommon groups. Either way, you weren't likely to know all that much about them. Sometimes this was because they had never been active for very long, or they had replaced a much more popular hero. War Machine could be easily seen as falling into this category. There might be some people who knew a lot about them for whatever reason, but for the most part they went about their business unnoticed. There were quite a few cases where people fell from the second category into the third, or vice versa depending on their level of activity.

    But then there was the last group. These were the people who for one reason or another had never gotten any recognition at all. Virtually no one would know their names if you said them, their membership on any team was likely to be forgotten, and they could pass by unacknowledged even if their identity was publicly known.

    For most people in the last group, it didn't matter all that much if people didn't know who they were. The type of person who becomes a hero isn't usually the kind who seeks out attention from the public. As long as they are able to do something to help people, it's going to bring enough pleasure out of the job.

     Virtually all of the time, you would know which category you fell into. Sometimes a third or second tier hero would get the idea that they were more important than they actually were, but normally people could accept where they stood.

    For Philip Javert and Magdalene, there was no question about their status. They were firmly stuck in the lowest group. With the exception of a few die-hard aficionados of the Avengers, no one who heard their names would be able to place their faces to them. Some people might confuse Philip with the original Swordsman, and say “But wasn't he killed?” There were multiple factors that worked against the pair – they came from another world, hadn't spent any major amount of time working for a team, and didn't seek out work on their own. All of these meant anonymity to the public.

    For a time they had traveled into other worlds, looking for a place where they belonged. But after a period of searching, both Magdalene and Philip had realized that the home they sought was back in the Avengers' world. The place they left was where they wanted to be, and they showed up right in the middle of an invasion of Earth. Laughing at how they had been thrown right into the action, they worked with the other Avengers until the threat was ended. They made a mutual decision to take some time off afterwards in order to settle down a bit, and until the disaster at the mansion neither one had thought of the Avengers for some time.

    What had happened there and what happened afterwards was still a bit of a mystery to Magdalene. She couldn't say that she was close to Wanda Maximoff, but she still had a hard time accepting that she had just gone mad and turned against her friends. But it looked like she was the only one who was thinking that, because after the arrival of Doctor Strange no one had asked questions or explored other options. Not having all that much say in the team led her to remain quiet, and besides there hadn't been any real protest of innocence from Wanda. Now in hindsight she felt guilty. What if there was some malignant force possessing her, making her helpless to do anything? Why hadn't that been the first line of question anyone took?

_What was really going on here?_

    Magdalene was now pacing around. She wished she could articulate what was bothering her so much about this whole situation.

    “Hey.” Philip sounded just as disturbed as she felt. “Did you hear about that new team?”

    “Yeah. I heard. I'm kind of surprised about it.” No matter what had happened to them, the Avengers carried on, again and again. Yet after the latest incident, both Steve and Tony had said the team would be no more. Clearly this hadn't lasted very long.

    He was silent for a while, and then said “You know what?”

    “What?”

    “I'm kind of disappointed that no one talked to us about joining.”

    Philip had voiced a thought that Magdalene had been thinking of herself. With so many members joining over the years, there should have been plenty of names to choose from. Steve, Tony, and Clint all weren't surprises, what with their experience on the Avengers. Spider-Man also didn't seem like much of a shock, even though his own membership had lasted a very brief time. He still had enough of a presence so that it was pretty logical he would be a member. It was a little trickier for both Power Man and Spider-Woman. He had at least been active for a while with Heroes for Hire, but Spider-Woman (at least this version) hadn't been a costumed hero for years now. But she did have a history, so it might have been the best choice in Steve and Tony's eyes. As for the last name, she didn't even know who he was. “I can understand. If they were looking for some new blood for this team, then why didn't they first go looking for those of us who weren't really well-known? I know it's selfish in a way, but it does hurt to realize that you weren't even thought of when the time came.” 

    Philip nodded. “Before, when the Avengers needed members, the first people they would ask would be the inactive members. But when you look at the makeup of the new team it's got more new faces than I think there's ever been, save for the first time. And who is that guy who I've never seen anywhere before? How did he get there?” A sigh. “I don't know. I guess it just hurts a bit to know that people who you thought of as your teammates didn't care all that much about you.”

    “You know what I've been thinking about over the last few days? How come everyone has just gone on accepting that Wanda would do something like this. I mean, I'm trying to think of some other time when someone we trusted did something horrible to us. But wouldn't there be at least some question of what happened and if something or someone was controlling their actions?”

    There was clear agreement on his face. “You know, you're right. I've been thinking about it too. I even wanted to bring up the idea when we were all meeting later on, but I didn't feel like I could, what with not being a major member or anything.”

    Philip was right about that. Even if he or Magdalene were to voice their opinion on the events, how many people would take them seriously enough to do something about it? They didn't really have connections on the team, and couldn't be said to know Wanda well enough to make any statements in her defense. “What do you think happened?”

    “I don't really know. But I do know that we shouldn't just believe something extraordinary without having some kind of proof. Okay, maybe there was magic like Wanda's involved in all this. But that would be just like saying that because something that was destroyed had to have been done by a person with super-strength, it had to be you doing it. Would anyone go and accept that as being enough proof?”

    She said “No one would go and think of me first, but I get the point. Just going and saying 'oh, she's crazy now, and has been that way for a while,' isn't sitting right with me. Do you think anyone else is feeling the same way?”

    “Pietro, for sure. But the only other person I can think of who would be defending her is Vision, and he was the first one taken down in the attack.” Saying the words took Philip's thoughts in another direction. “Do you think that was why he was the first? Wouldn't the best strategy be to take down multiple people in one go, unless your purpose was to do something other than destroy everything?”

    “Do you think that someone could be framing Wanda for all this? Who would be able to do that? And what would be the point?”

    “That's another problem here. How much do we know about the Avengers enemies? The only one I can think of off the top of my head is Ultron, but he wouldn't be able to do the things we saw happen. So even if there is a way to find out who did it, where would we start looking?”

    Neither was able to think of what to say next. Both Philip and Magdalene felt helpless. They no longer believed that Wanda had done the actions attributed to her, but had no idea how they could prove that this was the case. She finally broke the silence by saying “What do you think they're going to do to her?”

    “I'm afraid they may think there's only one option. Usually Avengers don't take lives, but if they really think Wanda's so dangerous...” He paused. “But wait a minute. If she's really capable of rewriting reality to be whatever she wants it to be, why didn't she just make us all forget about this after we were told it was her? Or just change everything back to the way it was before? I mean, I guess you could say that she's sick and not thinking clearly, but in that case how would she be able to create such an attack? Something like that required some degree of planning, and if she's able to do that once why couldn't she afterwards?”

    “You're right, Philip. It's like in order for us to accept this all happened, we have to believe in two different things at the same time. Why isn't anyone else seeing this?”

    Later on, both of them would say that they didn't know if they would have gone any further with their searching if what happened next hadn't occurred. A brief flash of light was visible out of the corners of their eyes. They both turned to look at what it might be, and were both shocked.

    An elderly woman that neither Magdalene nor Philip had ever seen before was standing in the room. She had a stern look on her face, and said “Have you checked the ruins? You must go there to save everyone.” And with those words she vanished.

    Shocked silence was the only reaction they could do for a lengthy period of time. When Philip was able to speak, he asked “Who was that?”

    “I don't know! I've never seen her before in my life!” She couldn't even place someone she might have known as even looking similar to the strange woman.

    They both had to go and sit down, feeling overwhelmed by all they had been discussing as well as the stranger. It was clear from what the woman had said that the ruins were those of the Avengers' mansion - but was this a good idea? Could this be some trap by whoever was plotting against them?

    Magdalene finally said "Do you think that we should go?"

    "Maybe. I can't help but wonder if this is going to be some kind of trap. It just feels too convenient. But then again, who's going to try and trap us?"

    His point was pretty valid. "Well, we should be prepared for anything that might happen. Get your things ready and then we can go."

    Both Philip and her went to get their weapons. They didn't know what they were going to find when they got there, and Magdalene clutched her lance closely. Philip was putting his sword belt on, and wasn't looking at her. She kept finding her own eyes darting around, and realized just how worried she was. "Do you think anyone else is going to be there?"

    "I hope so. If there isn't, then maybe that's a sign of something. It could be that someone thinks we can help out with things. Or they're trying to get us out of the way, one person at a time." Philip reached out his hand to her. "When we get there, we should stick close together. If you see anyone, keep quiet until we can figure out who they are and what they want."

    Magdalene responded by saying "And if whatever we see looks to be pretty tough, then stand back and let me at it first. I can handle getting tossed around better than you can, so don't rush in."

    They both nodded, and set off on their journey.

* * *

 

    Simon almost couldn't believe what he was hearing out of his mother's mouth. "Mom, I don't understand. You're sure that you were talking to Wanda about her kids?"

    "Of course I am. Since it's getting closer to their birthday, she was thinking about it more than usual. She was thinking about having a balloon release or something to mark the day." The tone of her voice was annoyed, not liking the way this conversation was going.

    And then Simon was remembering a similar talk he had with Wanda back when they had been seeing each other. “It used to be that I would just want to go to bed and hide for the whole day when it was their birthday. Now it's just a time when I try to treat myself as nicely as possible. I'm hoping that some day I can honor the day the way it should be celebrated.” He shook his head in disbelief. Why hadn't he remembered that before? All the times when she had spoken about her children were now flooding back into his mind. Wanda knew about the boys – and therefore she couldn't have gone mad learning about them. The story they had put together was false.

    He guessed that he must have looked pretty shocked, because Martha said “Simon, you're as pale as a ghost. What's wrong?”

    “What you said about Wanda. Now I can remember her talking about Billy and Tommy in the past. Somehow, I couldn't think of them before. How could I forget something like that? What's happening to me?” The idea of his own mind being taken from him and warped into whatever another person wanted it to be was a terrifying notion.

    “You know, this has happened before. It was just after they'd taken apart your brother, and you weren't willing to help out. We talked for so long, and in the end you agreed to help. But of course you never did, and you at one point denied ever having a conversation like that with me.” The sadness he saw on his mother's face was a punch in the gut to him.

    Worst of all, he could now recall their talk. His own reasons for not helping out had been mostly selfish ones, which hurt to admit now. His mother had knocked down each feeble argument he put forward, and the final thing she said before he decided to do it was “Don't you think that he would do the same thing for you?” And she was right – if it had been him in such a state Vision would have done whatever it took to save him. He had gone to sleep that night vowing to talk with Hank in the morning, but as he looked back on what happened when he woke up it was like he had never spoken to anyone. Simon could even remember apologizing to Martha a few weeks later for it having been so long since they last spoke with each other. She had said something about them speaking earlier, but he had denied it. Knowing now that there was at least one more time when he had forgotten something crucial made Simon realize a horrible truth. “Wanda didn't do this. Someone is framing her.”

    “Who would be doing that? Do you know anyone who might be her enemy?”

    “I don't think that it has to be someone with a personal grudge against her. It could just be a person who hates the Avengers for whatever reason, and they just picked Wanda as a scapegoat. Or there's another reason that I don't know about.” He got up. “I've got to see if I can speak to her. Let me call Tony – he knows where they've taken her.”

    But what Tony said was not good news. He told Simon that Wanda had escaped some time ago, and no one had seen or heard from her since. And the only place he could think to go find her was with her brother, but when he brought up that idea Tony said that Pietro was not sheltering her. He then asked “Why are you trying to go see her now?”

    Grasping for an excuse, all he could think to say was “Well, you know we used to see each other. I guess I thought I might want to see if talking to her helps out.” He doubted that Tony actually believed him, but he didn't challenge Simon on it.

    He hung up, and looked over at Martha. She had been listening, as she said “They don't know where she is?”

    “No. Tony says they left her alone for a little while and when he came back she was gone. I don't know if that means she got away on her own or if somebody else took her. I really hope that she took action on her own.” And now Simon could clearly recall the look on her face when she had been accused. The shock wasn't due to having been found out. It was because Wanda knew she hadn't done anything, and couldn't understand why they were all condemning her. The issue that now bothered him was why she hadn't said anything when she was first accused. Had the same force that kept him from remembering things properly kept her from being able to act in her own defense? If that was the case, he held out some hope that she had broken free in the same way he had done.

    "So what do you think should be done?"

    "I don't know yet. Part of me wants to go and try to find where she might have gone, but another part of me is saying that I need to find out what's really going on before I start looking. I'm not sure which one is going to get me results sooner, and I want to have something concrete to work with. The biggest issue I think is going to come up is whether or not even if I can find where Wanda is, who says she will want to speak to me? None of the Avengers except her brother tried to defend her or look into what happened. What with our past relationship, how do you think she feels about me? If it had been me being set up like that, I'd be feeling betrayed and angry."

    Martha seemed to be trying to think of what the best option would be herself. "If Wanda does try to get in touch with me, then I can speak to her about you. In that case, I could tell you how to go from there. Do you think there's anyone who can help you out?"

    "Pietro would, but I'm afraid that if I get him involved then whatever I find out isn't going to be taken as seriously. Based on what I've seen from everyone else they don't trust him to be neutral in all this. Hank's the one I'm closest to, so I could go there first. Another thing that might work is sitting down with some of the team members who've worked with me in the past. But I don't know where all of them are now." Simon pondered his choices. "Jan's the one who could tell me the best way to get a hold of everyone. I'd have to tell her some kind of story, though."

    Martha asked "All of this started at the mansion, correct? Then maybe you should go look there and see if there's some evidence of what might have happened. I can see everyone taking what you're saying a lot more seriously if you have something to back it up."

    He didn't think that he was going to find anything even if he did go and look, but the idea wasn't all that bad. At worst, he would spend some time poking around a bunch of ruins for a few hours. "I can go do that before I do anything else." He went over and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks, Mom. I hope the next time I get over here I've got good news to share."

* * *

 

    The strange command that had sent them to the ruins of the mansion appeared to have been a wild goose chase thus far. Magdalene was grateful for her enhanced strength, because that meant moving around debris was as simple as lifting up a bag of groceries. Lacking her abilities, Philip asked after straining to move a piece of wall, “So, should I just sit around here looking pretty or what?”

    “Of course. Wouldn't want you to ruin that face of yours.” They both laughed, and she said “I think that it's best for you to keep an eye out for anyone coming by. Who knows how they might react to us being here?” The biggest surprise they had gotten had been the complete lack of anyone else on the grounds. Both knew that the mansion was such an important part of the team, and the absence of construction workers or even equipment added to the whole mystery of what had really happened.

    Philip began to move closer to the perimeter of the grounds, and could be heard to exclaim “Damn. I think I must have disturbed an anthill or something. They're all swarming around.”

    Not pausing a moment from the large piece of metal she was lifting, Magdalene said “As long as they're not biting you, it should be okay. Have you seen anything that looks out of place?”

    “No. I'm still wondering if this is what we're supposed to be doing. Maybe someone's coming to meet us here. How long do you want to keep on looking here?”

    “At least until it gets dark. If nothing's come up by then, I think it's safe to say that there's nothing to be found.” And as he walked around, his foot got caught in a hole in the ground. “Ow!”

    “What's wrong?”

    “I tripped in a hole. I'm alright, though. I can still move my leg, and it's not poking out funny.”

    He sounded so casual about it that Magdalene wanted to lecture him. “Have you tried walking yet?”

    “Going to right now. Oh!” Philip sounded like he had finally seen something. “I think this could be it.”

    As fast as she could, she went over to his side. Philip was holding a keepsake chest, not one that was too big but could likely hold something important. She watched as he opened it up.

    The contents quickly confirmed what he had thought. The very first item that was pulled out was a ring. That didn't seem to be very significant, but the very next item showed them they had the right thing. It was a photo album. When Philip opened it up, the very first picture was of a smiling Wanda with two babies tucked in her arms. Flipping through the other pages showed all of the other pictures were also of the children, mostly with either Wanda or Vision but also some with other Avengers. Philip closed the album, and he and Magdalene stared at each other for a moment before saying in unison “She knew.”

    The entire story they had been given had now fallen apart. If the reason for Wanda going mad was that she had only just remembered having children, then there should have been no evidence of their existence left lying around. There was a minute chance that the album belonged to someone else, but who would want to have something like that other than her? And if it was hers, then it made sense why there was a ring in the box. It had to be her wedding ring from when she was married to Vision. The other items in the box looked to also be personal keepsakes, but those weren't as important as the photo album was.

    “What are we going to do now?” Magdalene wondered. Yes, they did have some proof that Wanda could not have done the things she was accused of – at least not for the reasons given. How would everyone else respond to their evidence? They were hoping to at least get some manner of investigation launched, but didn't know who to turn to or what to say.

    "I wish I could give you an answer. If only we were better known. Then maybe we could count on getting a positive reception. I just don't feel comfortable going to either Steve or Tony and talking to them about all this. You know what happened with Tony during his speech. Why would he want to look into something that could have caused him so much trouble, especially when we're saying the person who's supposed to be responsible didn't do it?"

    "From what I know of him, I think he'd want to know the truth. But you're right about the reception we would be receiving. For all I know, they might not even remember who we are!" She was going to add something to her remarks, but the sound of footsteps caught them both off guard.

    Both clutching their weapons, he whispered "It was a trap."

    And as the figure came into their line of sight, Magdalene jumped into the fray. She barely paid any attention to who it might be, only thinking of keeping her and Philip safe. Whoever they were, they weren't expecting her to fly at them, and as she was able to get them pinned they cried "Hey! Stop it! I'm trying to help!"

    She then noticed who it was that had just arrived. It was Wonder Man, Simon Williams. With that revelation, she released him and apologized "I'm sorry about that. We were told to come here, and we were afraid it might be a trap."

    "I'm Philip Javert, the Swordsman, and this is Magdalene.” The introduction felt necessary, since they highly doubted Simon would know who they were on sight. “I don't know if you remember us, but we've worked with the Avengers before.”

    Simon did at least appear to have some idea of who they were. “Yeah. I remember seeing you around during the invasion. But what on earth made you come here? Who told you to do that?”

    “We don't know. Philip and I were at our home, and suddenly someone just appeared in front of us telling us we needed to go check the ruins, and that we needed to go there to save everyone. So we've been poking around for a while, and we found this.” She handed him the photo album.

    He took it from her, and flipped through a few pages. When he shut it, he said “My God. This is the proof I was hoping to get.”

    Philip now asked “The proof? Were you coming here trying to find out if what we were hearing about Wanda is true?”

    “Kind of. I was visiting with my mom and telling her about what had been going on over the last week or so. And she told me that there was no way Wanda could have gone crazy because of being reminded of her children, since she knew for a fact that she still remembered them. When I heard that, then I started to remember the times I talked with her about the subject, and couldn't understand why I hadn't thought about them earlier. As far as I can tell, someone's messing with our heads to frame Wanda for some reason. The question is why and who? I don't know any of our enemies who would have powers like that who might also want to hurt her.”

    Magdalene suggested “I think that we should continue this discussion somewhere else. I still don't know if there was something sinister involved in sending Philip and me here, and I'd rather not stick around too long. Do you want to come back to our place?”

    “Of course. Just show me the way.” With that being said, Simon walked off with them.

 

* * *

 

    Once they were all settled, Philip started to relate their story. “I guess you could say we were thinking about the Avengers even before we got that vision. I'd seen a story about that new team, and I was feeling a little hurt that no one even asked us to join, but they could get all these new people in. I know that we're not well-known at all, but I always liked to think of myself as being part of the team in some way.” He hoped that Simon wouldn't get the wrong idea and think that he wanted glory for his work. If he had been asked to join but then got no attention from the public, that would suit him just fine. “And I brought it up to Magdalene, and then we got to talking about how nothing we had been told made any sense.”

    Magdalene herself then stepped in. “We talked about bringing up some of our concerns to people, but we didn't know if anyone would take us seriously or even care. Then we saw that woman, and we just took off.”

    Simon was digesting what he was told, and then stated “I'm glad that you were there, because I wouldn't have really tried to look through the place. Mom said I might want to go there to see if I could find out if there was any evidence left behind.” He looked right at Philip and said “And you're right. It is odd that no one who used to belong to the team was contacted, save for Spider-Man and he was a member for such a short time that I wouldn't think he would be a top choice for us, even though he's always been well-known. If they'd asked me I would have said no because right now I don't think I could take on that responsibility, but why wasn't anyone else asked?”

    "Well, it's possible they asked other people and we just didn't know about them. I know that Magdalene and I would almost certainly be last on the list of former Avengers if you were looking to get a team together."

    He shook his head. "If that were the case, then we'd be seeing more of the old guard on the new team. I'm one of the older members, so I can say that if they went out and got new blood without getting to ask me then most of the other Avengers were never spoken with."

    Magdalene asked "Do you think that it's because everyone wanted a fresh start after all of that chaos, or if whatever has been affecting your memory is targeting other Avengers?"

    "Leaning in the direction of the latter. Take a look at the line-up. Steve, Tony, Clint - aren't all of them first line candidates? If they really wanted to start fresh, then we wouldn't be seeing any of them. Well, maybe Steve, but seeing the group they have makes me think that there was some factor making everyone look outside the box.”

    Philip had to ask “So what do you think we should do now? I don't think it's a good idea to just go to Stark Tower and ask to be let in. Who would take us seriously, even with you backing us up?”

    “I don't think the problem is really so much who you are. The real issue I see is that this involves Wanda. I can see very easily both Steve and Tony saying that she might be messing with us so that she can do something else to us.”

    On some level he could understand why they would want to be cautious, given the disaster that had happened. “But don't you think they would want to know that their friend wasn't really doing anything to hurt them? I know I'd be over the moon to hear that someone I trusted might not have done anything wrong.”

    Simon blinked. “I guess you're right. But it just made so much sense when Doctor Strange went and explained things to us. Like...” He trailed off.

    Magdalene had a look of revelation. “You don't remember what he said, do you? I know I don't, but I didn't know what anyone would think if I brought it up.” She seemed somewhat embarrassed at saying it.

   It was the catalyst that Philip knew they needed. “I can't remember what was said either. That's enough proof for me that there's someone else involved. If Wanda were doing this, I would expect her to make us think that nothing at all was said about her. But we all remember her being blamed, even if we can't remember what the words were.”

    Simon looked at the two of them for a moment. “Do you think we're in danger?”

    Two nods of agreement.

    “Then we need to be careful. If us poking into things gets too close, we might find ourselves being blamed next.”

    It was Magdalene who came up with an idea that looked to be workable. “Here's what I'm thinking. The biggest challenge for Philip and me is that we don't have any connections to other heroes here. So we can't go asking around about Wanda and expect to get anything useful. But you, Simon – you've known her for a while now. You asking people questions wouldn't be out of place, so that could keep prying eyes away from us for a little while longer. And as for me and Philip, we can try to see if there have been any other unusual incidents happening to heroes besides the Avengers. If there's some pattern, we might be able to narrow down who's responsible. We can arrange to meet up with each other every so often to share what we've learned. As long as we keep things quiet, I bet it will work out. What do you think?”

    He didn't hesitate for a moment. “That seems like a good idea. I do want to go around and speak with anyone who might have been interacting with Wanda during the time-frame she was supposed to be losing her mind. I don't know how many people outside of the Avengers I can speak with, but even if I'm limited to team members that still leaves me with options. And once we've put together enough evidence, then we can go to Steve and share what we've learned. Hopefully by then we'll know who is really responsible for this whole mess.” He got up. “I don't think there's anything else left for us to talk about tonight. Just give me a number to reach you at, and I'll do the same.”

    The numbers were exchanged, and Simon then left them. Philip then turned to Magdalene and said “Well, I can safely say that this was not something I thought was going to happen when I got up today.”

    “No kidding. I'm still trying to process everything that's gone on. But it does feel good to be back in the thick of things, working on saving the world – maybe.” She added “I brought the chest with me. Where do you think might be a good place to put it?”

    “Anywhere here should do for now. Let's just say whoever's been doing this is going to try and destroy any evidence of Wanda's sanity. The last place they would think to look would be with us, because who ever thinks about us anyway?” It was perhaps the first time that being unknown was actually benefiting them. He had another thought to voice aloud. “Magdalene? Did you really think that Wanda did all this before we went there?”

    Her response was an echo of his own thoughts. “Not really. I just found it too hard to believe anyone could change that much so quickly.”

    “I didn't, either. But Simon did, and he knows her better than we do. So why was it us who doubted the story?”

    “I was thinking that it might have to do with the fact he was close to her. If that were the case, though, Pietro would have also ended up turning on her. So proximity doesn't look to play a role here. And Simon said his mother didn't believe it either, and she sounds like she's close to Wanda. Could there be something that makes us more resistant to what's going on? Maybe because we come from another Earth?”

    He shrugged. “Anything's possible right now. If there's magic involved here, then I can't say I know anything about that subject. That should be something else we look into, see if there's something that might help us out here.”

    “I'll start looking for some books tomorrow. And if we end up meeting with any other Avengers, then I'm going to try and think of what we tell them. If they look like they're thinking like Simon, then we should see to getting them to join us. Otherwise...” She trailed off.

    Philip went and sat beside her, grasping her hand. Both were aware of the responsibility they had been given, and what might be at stake if they could not learn the truth.

    And the first threads that would solve a mystery began to fall in place.

 


	5. Getting Help

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wanda meets Bonita, and they begin to make plans. And the one who has caused this is following someone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two things before this chapter.
> 
> 1\. I was wrong about one of my characters not having a tag here (although I am now curious where else she's been).
> 
> 2\. The words said by our villain here in the bar are a misquote of a song, but it fits what he's doing pretty well.

    She guessed that the day wound up being so ordinary at first because of how much the later events would change things for her, but as Bonita Juarez was putting the final touches on her dinner she was grateful for the relative peace she now had. Work had been the usual mess of things – so much that had to be done and both so little time and funding in which to do them. She loved working with her clients, but not being able to do all that was needed to help them drove her crazy.

    Thankfully the stress was over for now. Bonita was already planning for what she was going to do over the weekend. She wanted to go make a trip to see Father Diego at the mission and spend some time there. It was always a rewarding time to do some more hands-on work than what she could normally do, and she got along with everyone there. Then she could finally get that painting done in the living room, check on the progress of her garden, and the list went on. She would be busy, but these were all things she enjoyed doing.

    While waiting for her chicken to come out of the oven, she picked up the paper and flipped through it. There was a short article on the new team of Avengers, who looked to be mostly new people. Bonita idly thought about how before all of this began she was on the verge of asking to join as an active member again. She'd been thinking about her frustrations at work, and how much she had felt useful when she had last worked with them. Since the day she had gotten her powers, she had felt like she needed to use them or else there would be no point in what had happened to her. If God had wanted her to gain such abilities, He clearly intended for them to be used to help others. Unfortunately, everything had gone haywire before she had gotten around to asking someone, and that was that.

    A feeling of sadness fell over her as she thought about Wanda. What had gone wrong? The explanation that she had just lost her mind and then did all this didn't sit well with her. Bonita could remember what had happened the last time, and while Wanda had been aggressive and hostile, she hadn't gone on such a campaign of destruction. Even more importantly, she had recovered completely the last time. Based on her own experiences with mentally ill people, she knew that if you really had lost your mind to such a degree and weren't getting any kind of treatment then you would show signs to the people you interacted with. Not all of the signs were easy to spot, but the Avengers were so close it boggled the mind that no one had seen anything at all. She wondered if there hadn't been some force that had possessed Wanda, had made her act against her will. If that was the case, things would make a lot more sense.

    A ding told her that the chicken was done, and Bonita sat down to enjoy her meal. The first bite was barely in her mouth when she heard the sound of the doorbell. “I'm coming!” she cried out. Chewing and swallowing as fast as she could, she went to greet her guest.

    Nothing could have prepared her for the sight of an exhausted-looking Wanda Maximoff standing at her door. She said “Bonita, I'm sorry. But you're my only hope. I have nowhere else I can turn. I was told you could help me, and I'm praying that it's correct.”

    Her first instinct was to shut the door and call someone. How had Wanda gotten away? Did anyone know where she was? And what did she mean by saying Bonita could help her? But before she could decide what action to take, she looked over her visitor carefully.

    Wanda didn't seem all that different than she had in the past save for looking tired. Nothing in either her speech or mannerisms indicated the mental breakdown she was supposed to have had. She did seem stressed, but under the circumstances that was understandable. And if she could do all of the things she was said to have done, couldn't she just make Bonita trust her without any explanation?

    She had to make a decision on what to do next. And then she said “Come in. I just started eating dinner.”

    There was a huge look of relief on her face. “Oh, thank you. It's been such a long trip to get here.” She sniffed the air and asked “Is it alright if I have some of that chicken? I haven't had a real meal since Cleveland.”

    “Since _Cleveland?_ Just where have you been lately?”

    “At first they were holding me somewhere, but then I heard that they were thinking about killing me and I knew that I needed to escape. I got out, and I cast a spell that sent me to you. For the last few days I've been on buses, sleeping a little bit when I could and mostly living on crackers and an occasional candy bar.”

    “Of course you can have some! Take as much as you need! No one is going to be hungry in this home.” Her words made Bonita feel guilty for not offering her something right away. “Sit down, and I'll get you a plate.”

    Wanda did sit down, and she dished out some chicken, peas, and potatoes. She attacked her meal with such vigor that Bonita did not wait for her to finish before giving more. When her plate was full a second time, she sat down to resume eating her own meal.

    “You didn't need to get the food for me. I could have done it myself.”

    “I didn't need to, I wanted to. You've had enough trouble lately. If I can make things easier for you, then I've done good.”

    Bonita was rewarded with a big smile, and they both continued to eat. After she was finished with what was on her plate, Wanda put down her fork and said “You have no idea how much this means to me. I barely have any money left, and no way of going anywhere if you didn't want to help me. I was so afraid that you would just turn me over to the rest of the team before I could even speak.”

    “I did think about that for a moment or so. But I couldn't possibly bring myself to do it. I can guess that what would happen to you in that case wouldn't be good, and also...” She had to take a moment before saying the next part. “I'm not really convinced that you were the one doing all those things.”

    She looked at her face on and said “I did nothing. I have no idea who is doing all these things, or why they've chosen to blame me, but I know that I am not guilty.” The next bit was said in a low tone. “And I do remember Billy and Tommy. I will never forget how much I loved my children, or how much it hurt to lose them.”

    Bonita could now clearly recall the last Christmas the Avengers had. Since several of their members had so much more money than any of the others, they had devised a gift exchange to keep things simple. Everyone would get the name of a team member who wanted to participate, and that person would be the one they got a gift for. In order to make things more fair, there was a strict limit placed on how much you could spend. There were some exceptions, mainly for people who would give gifts to each other no matter what, such as Hank and Jan, but for the most part the system worked well. Her most recent person had been Dane, and she had chosen a vintage copy of _The Song of Roland,_ which had been very well-received. It was a bit of a surprise that Vision had been allowed to give his gift to Wanda, given their past relationship, but apparently Jan had no problem with this assignment.

    And when his gift was given, any doubts were taken from her mind about how good an idea this was. It was a beautiful photo album, and the first picture there was of the first time Wanda had held her children. All the other photos in the album had been along the same lines – they were either of the children alone, with their parents, or with another Avenger. After a brief period of time looking through it, Wanda had left the room crying. When she had been able to return, she had taken one of Vision's hands and said “Thank you.”

    She had to wonder why she hadn't thought of that during the time that everything was being explained to them. The whole thing poked a big hole in the story of why Wanda had supposedly turned against them, and with the sheer number of Avengers that had been present at the time at least someone should have mentioned it. “I know you do. I can still remember Vision giving you his gift last Christmas.”

    The relief was clear to see. “I'm glad you do. It's been a nightmare since all these things started happening. I've been going over everything in my head, but I still don't have any idea who did this and why. I don't have enemies the same way a lot of others do, and there's nobody I can think of who can do anything to this level. The best I've been able to come up with is that I might not have been the main target, but whoever is doing this just saw me as a convenient target for blame.” She seemed to have another idea. “Do you think that they might be someone you've had dealings with? It would explain why I was told to go to you.”

    “Unfortunately I can say the same things you did. I don't have enemies, and I don't know anyone who could change the world like that. In fact, I've never heard of someone with that power. Have you?”

    “I know that there might be some powerful magic-users who could do such things, but they'd need to have the right kind of magic. And I don't know if there is anyone who so completely specializes in chaos magic so that they could have that kind of power. It would be dangerous to do so, not just for the body but for the soul.”

    Her mention of chaos magic led Bonita to ask a question. “Isn't that what you use? Are you in the same kind of danger?” She hoped the question wouldn't be taken too badly.

    Wanda responded with a smile, and said “Not really, based on what I've learned. My power is only on the level to make real world things happen, not anything imaginable. There's also the fact that I haven't had to study in order to do the things I do. By not doing that, I avoid contact with the sources of chaos magic, so there's less of a chance of being corrupted. Still, it is something I think about sometimes. Especially now that everyone else thinks that's part of what happened to me.”

    “So we don't have anything to go on right now.” It felt so frustrating, not being able to do anything that could unmask who was bent on causing the Avengers such misery.

    “Right now we don't. I'm hoping to go looking through some of the books I bought and see what I can find in them. That was what sent me here to you, and so far it looks to be working out.” Her words were ended with a large yawn.

    Bonita said “Do you want to get some rest now? You sound really tired.”

    Wanda blinked, seeming to just realize how sleepy she was. “That's a good idea. I can do more in the morning...” She yawned yet again.

    While she did have a spare room, it wasn't made up for a guest yet, so she took her to the living room. “I'm going to get a real bed ready for you, but tonight you'll have to stay on the couch. I hope that's not a problem for you.”

    “It'll be fine. Easier than trying to sleep on the bus when everyone's...” Wanda had already lay down on the couch, and her eyes drooped shut almost immediately. Bonita went to get a blanket for her, and draped it over her guest.

    “Sleep well,” she said. How well she was going to be able to sleep remained up in the air. There was a worry in her mind about whether or not the person who was trying to frame Wanda was planning on doing anything else. With what she had seen they were capable of, virtually anything could end up happening. And how could you defend yourself against someone who could do whatever they wanted to do?

    She shook her head. Bonita didn't see any point in worrying too much about what might end up happening. If something did end up going on, then they could handle it then.

    She wondered, for a moment, what the person responsible was now doing.

 

* * *

 

    The man was sitting in the bar, trying to not be noticed. Of course he knew that he could have used his powers to make everyone avoid looking in his direction, but that didn't seem to be the best course of action right now. He was here to monitor a potential threat, and that was best done via mundane methods.

    Ah, there he was. It paid off quite a bit to keep track of where people tended to go, because you could establish a pattern and predict what they would do next. Once he had identified what the target did most often, then you didn't need to do anything but go where they would go. The bar he had gone to tonight was one of several his target frequented, but he normally varied where he went and didn't always go out at night. But based on what he knew was going on in his life, the man suspected tonight would be one of the nights he sought out some company for his drinks.

    Before he had become aware of what he could do and the responsibility it entailed, he had done some similar things. When it was a while between relationships he had no problem with looking for a woman to share the night with. In the city it wasn't too hard to find such a person, and he was always honest about what he was looking for. But the way his target went about finding someone made him feel disgusted. As soon as he had discovered his abilities, he had put all of his personal desires and indulgences by the wayside. Until he could see all his plans come to fruition, then he had to focus himself properly. His target also went with the idea of picking up someone, but he was typically doing so after the consumption of multiple alcoholic beverages. And half the time he had started drinking even before heading out! That weakness was what made him so annoyed with the other man. How could he expect to accomplish anything if he couldn't maintain a basic level of control over himself? Perhaps if doing such things gave his target a measure of happiness then he would give him a little more leeway, but each time after he left the home of whoever he had gone to bed with there was only self-loathing in his head. So foolish, going out and doing something that you knew was going to make you more unhappy later on!

    Like himself, the target didn't stand out in any way. He took a seat at the bar and ordered a drink, which was gulped down right away. The man could hold his liquor, he had to admit. Of course, this was because he spent far too much of his time consuming it. It was just one of the signs of mental weakness he had noticed in the target since he had begun observing him. No wonder the despair ate him up every day. “And to think I once thought you were a threat,” he quietly stated.

    He was glad that some of the threats he had cataloged earlier were now in close proximity to him. That made keeping an eye on them much easier than it had been when he had to resort to things like this. When you were following someone around, the chance of being spotted increased each time you did it. He did feel bad about how he was working to push them against each other, but that was just the way things had turned out. If he had been able to gain the status he needed in other ways, then the tactics he was using wouldn't have been necessary.

    By now the target looked to have drank enough to get him in a place where he could go over to whoever struck his fancy. The man rolled his eyes at that. Weakness, that was all it was. How could you expect to keep on doing what you needed to do if you allowed your cravings to keep getting in the way? There were other heroes that he knew of who had the same weakness, although they were no longer giving in to it. It didn't make a difference to him – if you were a strong person, then you should be able to set the level of drinking you did to a moderate course. And then there was the fact he had to go and seek out random strangers to go to bed with instead of finding someone who would indulge his weaknesses on a regular basis. Such weaknesses were dangerous for those who had special powers. They should be entirely focused on doing the right thing, not on human frailties.

     All around him various conversations could be heard. "And I told him we didn't have that..."

     "...will be back on Saturday, thank God..."

    "Everyone's cleared out, finally. Some alone time at last."

     If the man wanted, he could hear everything that was being said. Enhanced hearing hadn't been one of the things he had given himself following the beginning of his plans, but who knew what the future might hold? There were only a few things that he knew he could not do. He could not use his power to see in the future or make himself see it, could not bring people back from the dead, and could not grant special abilities to anyone but himself. Beyond those things, anything was possible. Thus far, he had chosen to be careful in what he made himself able to do. People would start to wonder if a new hero suddenly showed up able to do virtually anything, and while there was the option of just making everyone think he had always been there, that would be too unsatisfying for his tastes. "Earn respect. That is how I can get what I want."

    He now could consider his plan to be in the second stage, since he had been able to achieve his first goal. Belonging then meant that he could work at gaining recognition, and from there... Well, things should turn out in his favor.

    The target was now looking around the bar, probably to see who he was going to start chatting up. "Is it woman, is it man?" the man hummed to himself, knowing that he would be saying the words throughout the next day, although no one but himself would understand what he was talking about. He liked it best that way. There were only two people who he really needed to get to, and they both had different places in his plans. One was to be an important ally, someone who would trust you and want you around. The other was to be watched carefully, to see how best it would be to make them lose their status. If he were to take over his place eventually, then there needed to be a reason for him to occupy it. The other ones he had pushed to get added, simply because he either felt they might be a threat in the future or could help him formulate chaos within their team.

    From the looks of things, the target had found someone who might be interested. He was now speaking with someone who at least looked to be the kind of person you might actually want to go home with. Some of the other times he had been watching, the one he had ended up leaving with wasn't the kind of person you would want to go within a five-mile radius of. The man knew that a lot of times you would go with people like that simply because you didn't realize what kind of person they were or just were drawn to people who treated you badly because of your own experiences. However, the target both knew what those people were and did not have the experiences that might make doing such understandable.

    He had only once gotten a look into his target's mind. Mind-reading, in spite of it being very useful, was so common that most heroes at least made an effort to keep their thoughts out of reach. If he did do so, it was only for a brief time. What he had seen that time was a morass of self-hate, ever lingering despair, and a sense of duty that could not be abandoned. The last part was the only thing he approved of. As for the rest of it, he should try and do something about that. Since he did not, the initial feelings of respect he had for the target had faded away into something he couldn't identify. But he still made sure to watch out for him – the man knew very well that many had found their plans thwarted by underestimating their opponents. No matter what he had been told about how his defeat would come, the man kept his options open.

    The man the target was speaking to was wearing a green shirt, and looked to be quite interested. What they were exactly talking about couldn't be heard, but before too long the green shirt was putting his hand on the targets leg. They were likely to be leaving very soon. He hoped that they would at least make it back to the home of the other man. There had been some times in the past when the target had only gotten as far as the car of his paramour or even just the bathroom of the bar they were in. Every time he saw something like that, it lowered his respect for the man even more.

    This time they did leave, and he knew his time here was done. It would likely be a while before he could go back to this particular target, but that wasn't going to matter much. He was being held together with string, and when he finally came apart then it would be a weight lifted off the man's shoulders. There were a few other targets he needed to pursue. He had overheard that Wonder Man might be back on the East Coast, and if he broke through the control then a serious problem could come about. It wasn't enough to just make sure he was not recognized as being the cause of so many problems the Avengers had – he needed to give them a person to blame. Once he had come up with the Scarlet Witch as being a good choice, he then knew he was going to have to get rid of Vision sooner rather than later. The attack had given him the chance to do that. Afterwards, he made sure that no Avenger gave any thought to his restoration, at least not until it suited him to happen.

    His phone gave off the familiar sound, and he picked it up with a “Yes?”

    “Yeah, sorry to call you on your night off. But we're looking at a pretty tough situation right now, and I could use your help. Can you be back to the tower soon?”

     “Of course I can.” No matter what, he would always make time for helping the team out. Each battle would give him more of a chance to be noticed, and that would progress things even further.

    Leaving some money behind, he took off into the night.

 

* * *

 

    Wanda woke up at one point during the night, not certain where she was. After a moment she remembered the journey to Bonita's, and how she had been received well. Taking note of the blanket that had been draped over her, she drifted off once again, feeling safe for the first time in quite a while.

    She woke up again to the sun on her face. Finally feeling rested, she stood up and found a note for her left on an end table.

_I've gone to the morning Mass. I'll be back shortly. We can talk some more then._

    Not sure of what she could do next, Wanda walked into the kitchen and looked to see if there was something she could eat. But there was nothing out in the open she could see, and didn't feel comfortable rummaging through the cupboards to get food yet. She then decided to just wait for Bonita to return, and see what came next.

    The sound of the door opening came sooner than she expected. "I'm back. Did you see my note?" Wanda nodded. "I didn't want to wake you up when I was leaving, because you seemed so relaxed. I'm going to get some breakfast together. Omelets okay?"

    "That's fine. I could eat almost anything after the last few days. I've been living off crackers and an occasional candy bar."

    Bonita began to get the things she needed to make breakfast, and said "As long as you are here, I'll make certain you eat well." She added "I've taken some time off of work. With what you've told me, I think there are more important things to focus on besides my job."

    Wanda felt somewhat guilty. "That's probably not going to be necessary. I can do any research I need without any help."

    "It's not just that. I've been thinking, and if whoever did this is still out there who's to say they're going to stop with that? My job isn't nearly as important as the fate of the world. Besides, I was _this_ close to talking with someone about becoming an Avenger again before this whole mess began. That life, it gets you in the blood."

    She hadn't expected to hear that. "Then why didn't you go and join the new team they have now? If you were feeling interested I'd have thought you'd jump at the chance."

     Bonita looked a bit sheepish. "No one asked me."

     "No one asked you? Do you have any idea why?"

     "Partially because they'd already gotten a team together before getting around to me and the rest just because it's been a while. They may have just assumed I wasn't interested."

    It did make sense, and since she didn't appear to be upset about it Wanda let the matter go. She went to get some eggs out of the refrigerator, hoping to be of some help. Bonita smiled at her, and they both worked together to get the food ready.

    When they were sitting down to eat, Wanda said “I've got a few ideas of what to do next.”

    Bonita nodded, and waited for her to continue.

    “First of all, I'd like to wait for a few days, until the weekend's over. I'm hoping that whoever has done all this will start to think they're safe if they don't hear about anything. Do you know if there's been anything in the news about me or what happened to the Avengers?”

    “The only thing I've seen is something about what happened to the mansion. And a few stories about that new group running around. But you're not mentioned in any way.”

    That should have made Wanda feel better, but instead she felt more uneasy. “That's just another thing that doesn't make sense. Why haven't Steve and Tony made any effort to try and find me? Even if they don't want to bring media attention to this, shouldn't they be trying to get the word out in other ways? Either they don't think I'm a threat anymore, which doesn't feel logical given all they think I've done, or something else is keeping them busy. How much have you seen about the new group? Have they been more active than normal?”

    Bonita thought about it for a moment. “It's hard to tell for sure, but I would say no. There haven't been reports of major disturbances coming from New York or the surrounding areas, but there could always be stuff going on that we aren't hearing about. Of course, if that were the case then I'd expect Steve to start getting in touch with more of us. So I'm going to go back to no.”

    With no real answer, Wanda opted to just go on. “I'm also going to have to do some research. I may need to get a few books on magic to see if I can find anything about a precedent for someone being able to do things like this. Problem is, I don't know of where I could find things like that out here. So I'm going to see who might be a practitioner in the area and see if they have more resources. I wish I'd gone and listened to Agatha about studying magic more intensely – but as long as I was getting by I didn't think it mattered much.”

    Bonita had a question for her. “I always thought that you did know a bit of magic. How much more do you think you need to learn?”

    “Oh, I'm virtually an amateur. I had a brief period of intensive study, but that mostly just allowed me more control over what my hexes could do. That was a big help, and I did a little more study on my own when I was pregnant. I even had a student for a little while. But then things went downhill, and I sort of put any studies on the back burner. The things I need to know all involve divination of some kind, ways to unearth information.”

    Wanda was unsure of how Bonita might react to all this, but she said “That sounds interesting. I've never had a chance to deal with magic all that much.”

     “You might have at some point over the years. Most of us don't let people know about how we do what we do. It's just a little too hard to accept for most of the public.”

    Bonita laughed and responded “So people can accept all manner of special abilities, but if you start telling them they are the result of magic they turn away? 'Yes, I can deal with people who fly or burst into flame or even become giant green monsters, but if you start talking about casting a spell I'm out of here!'”

    The way she put it was so accurate that Wanda began to laugh herself. It felt good to be able to just sit and talk about things like this, and it had been so long since she had been in a mood to laugh like this. “Putting it like that makes it feel so absurd. I guess there's just a point where people can accept changes to their worldview, and magic is too much for most.” Another thought came to her mind. “Did you have any plans for this weekend?”

    “I was going to go to the mission, and do a few things around the house. I'm guessing that those are both off the table for now.”

    “No, you should try and go about things like you would if I wasn't here. In fact, it's better if no one even knows you have a guest staying here. I need to remain hidden, so I won't be going out all that much. I'll have to use a fake name when I do go out and find the person I need to talk to.”

    “Do you think that I should keep going to work?”

    “I would say yes, at least for the rest of this week. Today if you think you can explain things well it might be okay to stay home. How often is it you miss work?"

    "Not very often. So I can see what you mean. But if there's any signs of trouble you should try to get a hold of me. I don't want you to be alone in this."

    Her concern made Wanda feel more at ease. "I'm sorry for showing up the way I did, but I really didn't have anywhere else to go. I don't know what would have happened if I was turned away."

    Bonita just said "Well, you weren't, so don't worry about that. I've been thinking a bit about how everyone reacted to hearing you were supposed to be the person who was doing all this. Why didn't anyone say anything? I would think that there would be at least someone who would jump to your defense, besides Pietro."

    "I'm still trying to figure that out." The pain of being so easily tossed aside still stung. "After I saved Clint, I would have thought that he would say something at the very least. And Vision, if he were there..." But that was too painful to think on now.

    She realized she must be crying, because Bonita went to get some tissues. "Here. Take this." She waited for a few moments for Wanda to get a hold of herself, and said "I'm so sorry. I knew that you still had feelings for him, but I didn't think about how what happened to him would make you feel."

    All she could think to say was "We were going to go out for dinner last weekend. And this weekend, he wanted to take me to a concert. Now all I'm going to be doing is hiding." With that, she began to weep once again.

    Bonita wrapped her in her arms and said "We are going to find the truth. and clear your name. I swear it. I won't abandon someone who needs help, not ever. I don't care if all the other Avengers come to my door and demand I turn you over.”

    The trust that she was displaying soothed some of Wanda's pain. She allowed herself to cry for a while, and when she was done she said “I haven't gotten to know you very well before, but I'm getting the feeling that we're going to get along just fine.”

    “Of course we will. Now let's get back to breakfast.”

    They did finish their meal, and the rest of the day was spent just hanging around. Bonita brought out a movie during the afternoon, and Wanda helped her to fix up the spare room where she was going to be staying. The room felt about as close to home as she could get without her things, and she remarked “I wish I'd brought my photo album with me.”

    “How were you able to get it? I would have thought that you would have lost everything after the mansion was destroyed.”

    “After my old house was burned down, I decided that if I had anything really important it needed to be stored in a safe place. So I got a chest and buried it on the grounds of the mansion. Besides some personal things, I kept a spare phone there as well as some money, which is what I used to get here.”

     “I never thought about doing something like that. But how were you able to get back to the mansion without being noticed?”

     “It wasn't hard at all. No one was there.”

    This was perhaps the thing that left Bonita the most surprised she had been. “No one? How is that possible? I know that every other time we've had so much damage done Tony's had workers there as soon as the dust clears. What's gotten into everyone? I can't believe that it's just because of how it happened, because if they really wanted to put the Avengers aside they wouldn't have gone and formed a new team so quickly.”

    “My best guess is that whoever has been manipulating people's minds is keeping them from going back. Why they are doing that isn't clear to me. I'm not certain that anyone's even gone and tried to find Scott's body yet.”

    She stood up from where she was putting the sheets on the bed, and stated “What?! That's insane! The Avengers always care about their members, and I know that we would normally never leave a member behind. Even without the other things I've heard, that would settle it for me. Something is going on here. And besides, why would people think you have some kind of grudge against Scott? You haven't really had enough time to get to know him yet. Wouldn't it make more sense if Jan was the one who died, or someone who was a leader like Steve or Tony?”

    Bonita's indignation on her behalf was encouraging to Wanda, but there was a question that was now lingering in her mind. “I think that they are just blaming how we were targeted as just being the results of me being crazy, but I've thought about something else. You don't seem to be as accepting of what you were told as easily as my teammates were, and you don't know me all that well. Have you ever shown any signs of resistance to mental control in the past?”

    “Oh, no. I've got my ability to make force and heat. I can use the force to fly, but I've never gone up against people who might try to control my mind. I don't know why I wouldn't be affected the same way everyone else was.”

    Wanda had to think for a moment. “The only thing I can think of that makes sense is that if these events are all the result of dark magic, like I've been thinking, then you might be carrying around some holy object that would protect you.”

    Bonita said “I do keep my rosary with me. That might be what's doing it. Now I'm going to make sure to never take it off, even in the shower.”

    “Until we know what's happening, that's a good idea.” They then went back to making the room a place to stay.

 

* * *

 

    It was late that night when Wanda had the dream. She was standing by a house, looking at a woman with blond hair. The woman was watching over three children, but they weren't clear to her. And as she watched, a shadow came over them. The woman gasped. “Who are you? What do you want with me? Did she send you to find us?”

    “My pawn before clearly failed in his duty. I have not come from your home, and if it wasn't for the necessity of all this I would have left you alone. But I must insure my defeat will not come. The children were predicted to be my destruction, and this time I will not fail.” The voice of the shadow was one that she could not recognize (although it sounded like a normal human man), and Wanda could only watch helplessly as strange shadowy figures surrounded the children and the blond woman. Their screams were horrifying, and as she finally moved to act the shadow yelled “You! Why haven't you given up. I put you aside before, and I will do so again!”

    The dream ended there, and she could feel her heart racing. It had felt real enough to be seen as a warning of some kind. Whether it was in the near future or farther out, Wanda didn't know. She wished that she had seen the man in the shadows, or had been able to tell who the woman and children were.

    After her heart slowed down, she grabbed a piece of paper and wrote down the address she had seen on the mailbox. _213 Spring Hill Road._ She hoped that by having seen that she might be able to prevent whatever the shadow man had planned for the family.

 

 

 


	6. The Enemy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony thinks on how things are going, An Avenger makes a journey, and the enemy responsible works to put his plans in place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two main things here: one is that the main reason for giving such an extensive recap of Scott's backstory is mainly for anyone coming here from the MCU, where things are pretty different.
> 
> The other is I wasn't planning on having the bad guy be revealed until next chapter, but after a bit I thought it worked well to show him here.

    It might have been the fact that everything  _seemed_ to be going so well that made Tony feel anxious. There were so many times when things had been working out well for him only to have everything crash down around him, that a stretch of good luck normally made him wonder when the other shoe was going to drop.

    During some of those other times, he had taken to having an extra drink or two when he sat down in the evening. (That was how he would have put it before, and it was mostly true. He just neglected to mention all of the other drinks he'd been having before the extra ones.) Being sober and not having to resort to his old methods of coping was a good thing, and he knew that he could go and always give someone a call if he needed help, usually Rhodey. Tony wasn't stupid enough to think that his problem had gone away, but for the most part he felt he had a grip on things.

    So tonight, when there was nothing else to do, he started to think about why he was feeling so uneasy. It couldn't be because of business, since everything was going fine there. Relationships? Right now he wasn't seeing anyone, so that couldn't be the problem. The only thing he could think of was the new Avengers, but that didn't make much sense to him either. After all, everything was going great so far. Everybody was getting along, they were succeeding at their missions, and Steve was so clearly pleased with the new recruits.

    Rubbing his temples, Tony tried to think of why they had put together the team they did. Most of the time the Avengers had such a wide pool of former members to choose from that you typically needed only to go and contact them to get a team together. There had been some occasions when you would get more than one new person, but those were fairly rare. In this case, the only existing members they had gotten were Clint and Peter, and Peter had spent such a short amount of time with them it was almost as if they had a new face hanging around.

    Had they spoken to anyone? If he tried to think about it, he could vaguely get an image of Steve using his phone, but whenever he tried to focus on the image his head began to pound. That was happening a lot more often lately, leading him to go and get checked out for something serious. But all the tests that had been run showed him to be in perfect health. It had to be stress, there had certainly been more than enough of that going on right now.

    He thought about the new team. When it came to Clint and Steve, he knew both of them almost as well as it was possible to know someone. Clint was a great example of why Tony was glad to have people around who weren't possessed of special powers but still wanted to be heroes. Almost everyone who was an Avenger would think of Clint as being one of the most indispensable members of the team, one who you couldn't not think to include every time a new roster was assembled. He'd even been in charge of his own team out west for a while, at least until Bobbi's death. In Tony's eyes, that had taken all of his drive towards leadership out of him. But just being one of the regular members never bothered him, and he had even taken time to train others in recent days. He knew that it would be hard to think of the Avengers without thinking of Hawkeye.

    And Steve... What more could he say about Captain America? There was a very good reason that people thought of him as being the first Avenger, even though he had played no role in the founding of the team. He was brave, resolute, compassionate, and stood as the prime of what the nation should be. Steve and him had been involved in disputes many times over how both of them viewed the world, and Tony knew that most people thought he was typically the wrong one. And while he normally wouldn't give in on what he thought the right thing to do was, deep down he suspected that he was usually wrong. But Steve never held their disagreements against him or said that Tony didn't have a place with the team. Even when he was being attacked by all corners of the media, Steve had still stepped in to defend him, even if it meant his own reputation would take a hit. That and so many other times reminded Tony that he could only hope to one day be half the man Steve Rodgers was. 

    He knew that the whole mess with Wanda had shaken his friend in a way that had never happened before. He'd tried to make things better by getting a fresh start, housing the team in his tower as opposed to rebuilding the mansion. It would be for the best, right? That was why he made the decision, of course. It had to be. (His head started to twinge in pain, and his thoughts quickly moved away from that realm.)

    Out of the newer members, he could say that he knew Peter the best. Before, his own time as an Avenger had been barely a blink in the eye, but Tony had teamed up with him at times when the city needed it. He had seen the negative press coverage that had been given to Spider-man in the past, and could relate to the idea of trying to do the right thing even when nobody was going to care that you were doing so. Steve had gone to the Bugle in order to keep some of the nastier things out of the papers, but Tony didn't know how much of a difference it would make. Well, if anyone could do that it would be Steve. He also gave Peter props for learning how to balance his life from when he was a teenager onward. Most fifteen year olds had enough trouble with juggling school and friends, but he had not only done well in school, he had been working in photography for a major paper as well as being a hero. That said a lot about him, and Tony honestly wondered why they hadn't made an effort to get him to join earlier.

    But having Peter around as a teammate was different than working with him. Now, Tony was getting to know the people of his family. He'd known a bit of MJ's work in modeling before, but the woman herself was just a face on a magazine. He could have guessed a few things about her based on her marriage to Peter – that she was fully aware of what he was doing, and supported him. Being around her had caused to learn even more. MJ was completely non-pulsed by any of the travails life as a hero brought you, and while she worried about what might happen to Peter she didn't go and let it consume her. Tony couldn't think of many other cases where an active hero and non-hero were married, but the Parkers had figured out how to make it work. Given Tony's own track record when it came to any type of relationship, seeing someone who got things right made him feel good for them.

    There was also the presence of May Parker. She was a perfect example of what you would expect a maternal figure to be like, and while by what Peter had said she hadn't been aware of his other activities until very recently she had embraced them wholeheartedly. For Tony, it was pretty nice to have someone around who was willing to listen to your troubles in life, and who also had the experience to give you some solid advice about them. He'd also seen the way that she and Jarvis spoke to each other, and judging by the looks they were giving each other he knew that even if Peter were to leave the team there was a good chance May would be sticking around. Jarvis was one the most important people in his life, and seeing him get a extra does of happiness made Tony smile.

    It was a bit different when it came to both Luke and Jessica. Neither one was someone he could say he knew particularly well, and his work with either one was much briefer than with Peter. In the case of Luke, he had to admit that even if he had known him better in the past it wouldn't apply as much to the person he was now. Expecting a child had a way of doing that to you. From what Luke had said on previous occasions, he hadn't really given all that much thought to his relationship with Jessica Jones until they had learned of her pregnancy. Jessica herself admitted that she hadn't thought about what she was feeling until she got the news, either. Watching the two of them together gave Tony a pretty good idea of how strongly their feelings for each other ran. Hopefully they would acknowledge that soon. Luke was also a capable fighter who poured himself into everything he did, and was never afraid to jump in and help. Sometimes seeing him in action made Tony wonder why they hadn't thought of asking him to join the Avengers sooner. Given how he'd jumped at the chance, it would have likely worked out well for all concerned.

    To a lesser degree, he was also becoming acquainted with both Iron Fist and Misty Knight. Danny and Misty both didn't seem to want to join the team in any major way, but both were willing to help out and sometimes came over to hang around with Jessica and Luke. (He wondered a bit about the actual nature of their relationship with each other, but figured if they wanted to share anything they would.) The best thing about that was how it helped them make more connections with other heroes. The Avengers, for the most part, worked with several other teams in the past and could count on so many different members that it was almost impossible to find a group that didn't have any connections to them whatsoever. Just having those connections didn't always make them close or able to work together, though, which was something Tony always wanted to remedy. There had been too many times in the past when an inability to work together had resulted in disaster. If you wanted to work best at keeping people safe, that had to be fixed.

    That reason was one of the strongest ones he had for wanting Jessica Drew to join them. She was someone who had connections with various groups, and could use those connections to her advantage. Jessica having ties to SHIELD gave them a leg up on the times they would need the resources they may have to call on at certain points. As much as Tony wanted to be able to fund all of the team's needs out of his own wealth, there were shareholders of Stark Industries that did not take too kindly to seeing the CEO's money go elsewhere. While if it was up to Tony he would have just said the hell with it, there were a lot more people who depended on their weekly paycheck from him to risk jeopardizing it. 

    Another thing that was helpful was Jessica's ability to deal with people. Part of the problem with being a group that had some manner of authority endowed on them meant that there were times when the right course of action couldn't be taken, whether it was because of politics or something else. In order to combat the issue, he and Steve had long been in agreement that sometimes the requests needed to be given in to, and other times you needed to have someone to put your case forward. Having a leg in so many different places meant that Jessica knew how to tailor her approach to whoever she was speaking with, and that was going to be a big help at some point in the future.

    All and all, he felt fairly comfortable around the new team, even if some of them weren't people he had been close to before. But there was one major exception. And the worst part of that was that this new addition seemed to be one of the most liked members they had ever had.

    From the first time Tony had met him, things had been odd. Normally when you started working with another hero, you would find out a few things about them. At least that was how it had gone with the Avengers in the past. Yet this time he had learned nothing. At one point he had spoken to Steve, asking him if he was in any way concerned about their new recruit. “Don't you think there's a chance that he might be working for someone else?”

    Steve had reassured him. “I can't tell you anything about him, because it's too dangerous if people find out who he is. But I can tell you he has told me everything about himself and we aren't in any danger.”

    He wished he could feel the same way. Everything he had seen thus far about the man indicated he was trustworthy. He worked well with them, was always willing to help out, and commonly would deflect any praise directed at him in favor of others. But...

    If there was one thing Tony Stark knew well, it was putting up a mask. He had been acting various parts that were expected of him throughout his life, and was used to keeping up appearances. There was a very good reason that so many people still thought of him as being self-absorbed – he had cultivated that impression very carefully over the years. When people thought the worst of you, it tended to keep you off the radar. And every time he watched their newest member, he was reminded of someone who was also used to putting on a mask. There was something else going on inside the man's mind.

    Maybe if there was  _something_ that he could say he knew about him Tony might feel more at ease. Steve had said that he knew his real name, and what he did, but no one else could ever know that. At one point he had asked where he had gotten his powers, and the answer had been “The sun.” And that was it. Tony couldn't even observe him outside of missions, because the new member had refused to come and live with the others. “Too dangerous.”

    He was roused from his thoughts by a voice saying “Hello, Tony.”

    “Oh. Hey there, Sentry.” He wondered what the man was doing here now. While he didn't live with them, the Sentry did occasionally show up to speak with Steve. Tony felt that while the man showed him a fair amount of respect, he didn't quite have the same regard for him that he did for their leader. Not that this was too much of a shock, since overall most people didn't think as much of him as they did of the paragon of virtue.

    The Sentry just smiled, and could be heard humming to himself. It was the same thing he'd been doing for the last few days, and always the same song. It was that Bob Seger song about touring that Tony couldn't remember the name of right now, although he knew it was going to come into his head in the least opportune moment. “How have you been?”

    There was something about the question that made Tony want to close himself off. “Just a little tired from that last mission. Sorry we had to get you on your night off.” The Sentry on occasion would ask if he could be let off duty some nights, although if they really needed him he would always come. He wondered if the reasons for his absences were related to whatever he did in the regular world. There was a point when he wondered if the Sentry was a well-known person elsewhere, but the idea was dismissed as he wore no mask with his costume and his face did not stand out as being familiar.

    The nature of what he could do also wasn't completely clear. When Steve had first introduced him to everyone else, he had said that he had super-strength and could fly. Not too uncommon to see, and pretty helpful, but over time Tony had noticed that there were other things the Sentry could do. During the last time they had fought, he had suddenly been able to make a sound wave come from him that had knocked people off their feet. When he had asked about that, the response he had gotten was “I've been able to do something like that on occasion.” Fair enough, and it had helped them out. But why hadn't he told Steve about it before? Even if it was only something you could do a few times, it was still good to know what your teammates were capable of. He could remember Wanda at the beginning of her time with the Avengers explaining to him all of the things she had been able to do with her powers in the past, although she honestly said that she had no idea how to get things to go the way she wanted them.

    Wanda. He hadn't thought about her since the night she had gotten away and there had been the breakout. At first he had just been surprised that she had enough sense to think of getting away, what with the way her mind had to be working. He still knew that the only way she could be able to do such things to her teammates was if she was so mad that she could no longer tell what was real and what was not. There was no other way to explain why she would turn on them like that.

    Tony wondered why they hadn't made more of an effort to find her. With all that Wanda was capable of, it would make sense for them to keep tabs on her so that they could prevent further tragedy. As far as he could tell, she hadn't been doing anything, but how could you be certain when you had no idea where she could be now? Not that there were many places for her to go – the people who she had been close to were either not around or were not sheltering her. For a few days he had kept watch over Pietro, trying to see if he might be able to lead them to her, but nothing came of that. Unless Pietro had gained the ability to be in two places at once, there was no way he was either hiding his sister or going to see her.

    Steve had at first been much more willing to embark on an extensive search for the fugitive, until they had begun to put together the new team. From that point onward, he'd become more focused on other duties. Even when Tony had asked him whether or not he thought they were in danger by letting Wanda run loose, he had said “Right now she's not doing anything, and we need to focus on the team we have now.” It was logical enough, and Tony couldn't think of what else they might be able to do in any event.

    That last fateful day started to run through his head once more. Sometimes he felt like it had all happened in some strange dream-world, where none of the normal rules applied. If things had been normal, by now there would be an entire crew of people on the mansion's grounds, working at putting everything back together. But for whatever reason it hadn't gotten started yet.

    (Part of his mind told him that he had been thinking of this earlier, and had been forced away from those thoughts. But he couldn't remember that.) 

    “Is there something you're thinking about, Tony?”

    He was surprised that the Sentry was speaking to him like this. Normally simple greetings and orders during a fight were all they would say to each other. It was just one of the ways he put distance between them. “Kind of. Just trying to figure out when I might want to speak to somebody about getting some repairs done on the mansion. We've been pretty busy lately, and I haven't been able to get it done.”

    He nodded. “I understand. But I can't help but think that it might be too painful to go back and rebuild. Do you want to be reminded all the time of how one of your trusted teammates turned against you, and how two were killed? We're doing just fine right here. A new team, a fresh start – isn't that all for the best? Things are going well. It would be a shame to spoil them.”

    It made so much sense that Tony wondered why he hadn't thought of it that way before. Going back was just going to cause more pain. Better to let the past go and move on into the future. “You're right. I don't know why I was thinking of trying to go back to before. Thanks, Sentry.”

    He smiled. “Glad to be of help.”

    And as he left the room, Tony once again realized his head was hurting.

* * *

 

    “That settles it. I am never planning on complaining if my car breaks down ever again.”

    Looking around for something that might be a familiar landmark, Scott Lang wished for the millionth time that he was his full size again. If that had been the case, he would be able to return to Cassie within a few hours at worst. Right now, fully shrunken, he had been journeying for nearly two weeks and was still not yet at his final destination.

    When all of the trouble at the mansion began, Scott had been caught off guard. It had been a shock to see Vision torn apart like that, and he'd managed to catch a glimpse of Wanda afterwards, the despair in her eyes so clear to see. And then Jack had been there, and he'd realized something was going to happen. Knowing there was a chance of foregoing some of the blast if only he was able to get away, he had made himself as small as he could.

    He had been at least partially right. His actions had succeeded in keeping him from being killed in the explosion, but the force of the blast had knocked him out. When he had awoken, he hadn't been able to hear anyone else around. Scott had gotten to his feet, and then tried to go back to normal.

    It hadn't worked. Nothing had changed. For a brief period of time he'd wondered if the equipment had broken in such a way when he fell that kept him from growing once more. But after looking everything over, he could see no flaws. So he'd sighed and waited to see who would come to find him. Even if he was too small to be heard, Scott knew that he could get the ants to give a message to whoever came. And he waited, and he waited.

    It wasn't until dawn came that he began to suspect something was very wrong. He knew there had to be some major damage to the mansion, judging by the amount of debris lying around, but where was everybody? He could still recall one day chatting with Wanda about all the times there had been damage or outright destruction, and all Scott had been able to say was “I hope we have one hell of an insurance policy.”

    She laughed. “Tony normally will pay out of pocket for any repairs we need. I'm not certain there would be a clause for superhuman activity, and even if there was we'd get turned down for being too much at risk.”

    From those words, Scott had been pretty sure that no matter what the damage was, they would rebuild. This time, for whatever reason, no one was coming. In and of itself that wouldn't be a big deal, but what concerned him was the fact no one was coming to look for him. The team had to have noticed his absence, so the only conclusion he could come to was that they thought he was dead. So at first he made plans to go and find them, but while he was thinking about doing that Scott realized he had no idea of where everyone would go. Some of them did have places of their own, but they mostly lived at the mansion. And there was only one other place he could think of going: to where Cassie was.

    He wondered what his daughter was thinking now. Did she think he was dead, or had the Avengers just told her he was missing? And as each day of traveling went on and on, Scott became more and more worried about how she was coping. What was her mother doing for her?

    There was a point in his life when Scott had been angry with Maggie for what she had done to them. Losing your job wasn't an easy thing to deal with, and he'd tried to get back to work for some time. But as the days went on, he found his biggest job was in caring for Cassie, and gradually eased off on the search. Maggie hadn't liked that much, telling him he needed to be out there supporting his family. His response to that was that by taking care of his child, he  _was_ supporting his family. Besides, Maggie was taking in enough so that they could get by. When Cassie started school full-time Scott planned to get back into the job hunt, but at the time things had been going good.

     But there was something he'd never considered. One day, after going out with Cassie and one of her friends, Scott was surprised to see the lights were out in their home. He'd thought that Maggie must have been working late, and almost didn't notice the note left for him on the kitchen counter.

    The exact words weren't something he remembered. What he did recall was the gist of it – Maggie could no longer handle him hanging around all day, and she needed to get away. He'd known right away that this meant they were getting a divorce, and wondered when she would speak to him about how Cassie would divide her time between them.

    Neither one of them would see Maggie for nearly ten years. The sole contact they had before that was via her attorney when he showed up in court to finalize the divorce. She hadn't pushed for any kind of custody, which had hurt Cassie. “When is Mommy coming to see me?” she'd kept on asking. And Scott kept on telling her he didn't know. He'd wanted to tell her that she was better off without her if Maggie was just going to abandon them like this, with little money and no way of getting by. It would have been easier if he had pushed for some kind of child support, but a part of him hoped that if he didn't press the issue she might be more willing to be part of Cassie's life once more.

    He had honestly gone and tried to find work in the field of electronics, but with both taking care of Cassie and his absence from the field for a lengthy period of time, the jobs never manifested themselves. It had only been after he had gone so far as to start selling some of their things to pay rent that the idea of breaking into people's houses had occurred to him. Some of the things they had, like jewelry or electronics, could keep them afloat for quite a while. And so his new career began. Scott was always careful to just pick homes in well-off neighborhoods, to never take more than a few things in each place, and to be certain no one was at home before robbing the place. Each time he did it it felt so wrong, but the look on Cassie's face when he was able to put food on the table or get her a little something wiped those feelings away.

    On some level he had known that his good luck couldn't last forever, so finally getting caught didn't surprise him quite as much as it might have. One day he'd gotten it wrong, someone had come home, and he had confessed to the crime right away. Having been caught red-handed, Scott didn't see the point in trying to say he was innocent. So he'd gone to prison, and Cassie had gone to live with a foster family. Oddly enough, that had been more of a concern for him than being in jail was. He had no idea if when he was released if Cassie would return to live with him.

    Thankfully, the Glenns, who had been her caretakers, were fully behind the idea that one day Cassie would go back to him. Every weekend she had come to see him, and at one point he had thanked Mrs. Glenn for what she was doing. Her response was “No thanks are needed here. It's a bit of a relief to be taking care of a child like Cassie, because I don't have to worry about what's going to happen to her when she goes back home. Listening to her talk about her father just means I get to hear about the things you did together instead of worrying about what terrible things you might be hearing.” He learned that the two of them had cared for a large number of children, although while Cassie stayed with them she was the only one.

    Even though he had gotten out early for good behavior, things still hadn't gotten better for a while. First there had been the problem of finding a place that would hire a convicted felon, and Cassie's heart problems had been possibly the worst moments of his life. But making the choice to steal the Ant-Man suit from Hank had been the start of things getting better. Cassie got her operation, Hank and Jan didn't file any charges against him, and he was sent to Tony Stark for a job in his field. It was like life had taken note of all the bad luck that he had undergone, and then repaid him with interest.

    Seeing that it was getting dark, Scott looked over at the ants who were accompanying him during the trip and said “Time to stop for today.” Trying to navigate around in the dark, even with the moon fully visible, was too risky. He knew how to best keep away from people's feet or other hazards, but didn't want to risk his allies coming to harm. “Let's see what we can find to eat.”

    The one good thing about being this small was that even crumbs of food would be enough to keep him full for hours. Today he'd gotten what he thought was a piece of an ice-cream cone, and even eating his fill still left more for later. Yes, he was aware that it was probably covered in dirt and unsanitary, but when you had nothing else anything edible started to look pretty good. Water was easier to get, thanks to people watering their lawns. As he ate, he mumbled “I am never taking having a kitchen for granted ever again.”

    Like most of the nights since Scott had begun his journey, he thought about how things had changed for him so recently. Being asked to officially join the Avengers was a bit of a dream for him, because it meant that he now was accepted by one of the more important hero groups around. He'd always thought of being Ant-Man as being more of a side thing, but if he had the chance to make it more of a part of his life then he would go forward. And by accepting his new position, he had triggered the second major change in his life.

    He hadn't really thought of Maggie for years. As Cassie grew older, she started to ask questions about why her mother had left them. Scott had said “I think that she just couldn't handle how things were going when I didn't have a job. In the end I guess she thought it was better to just walk away.”

    Cassie had then said “If she really cared, then she would have come back to see me.” And while he'd wanted to say that it wasn't true, that her mother did love her, he couldn't bring himself to lie to his daughter. She was right – if Maggie had really cared for her she would have at least written to her or sent child-support money. Tony had told him that if he wanted he could go find her and get her to pay up, but Scott had declined since they were doing well now and he had no desire to see his ex ever again.

    Her showing up out of the blue one day and filing a motion in court to gain custody had been a shock to him, but he hadn't taken it all that seriously. After all, any judge would see that he had done all the work of raising Cassie over the years, and even when he was in jail the reports on Cassie's welfare said that he was a loving parent. Maggie barely even knew her daughter. Even if she was now getting remarried, they still didn't have a relationship to work with. His work with the Avengers hadn't even crossed his mind, since he knew that other members had children while on active duty.

    But that had been all that the judge had cared about. There were no questions asked about why his ex chose to come back into her daughter's life now, nothing was said to Cassie about what she might want, and with a few words the most important person in the world to him was taken away. He tried his best to still go and see her, but it was hard to do so with his duties. And at times he would show up to see his daughter, only to be told that Cassie wasn't available now and he should leave. Scott might have felt better if he could see any signs that Maggie and Cassie were getting along, but her silence about her mother when they did see each other spoke volumes.

    He did wonder why now she had decided to become part of her child's life once again. Scott thought the most likely reason was that since she was getting married again she wanted to look like a good parent, but he also thought that if that were the case then she would be making more of an effort to get along with Cassie. A part of him wondered if there was something else going on, but he honestly couldn't think of anyone who might be making Maggie act the way she was.

    Shaking his head, he wondered why he'd been so foolish. When he'd first heard about Maggie taking him to court he should have gone and looked for the best attorney he could find, gathered together as many people as he could who could talk about what a good parent he'd been to Cassie, and come in fully prepared. Instead he'd gone at it on his own. Why? Afterwards Scott had started to think about how he could have done things differently, but at the time it had seemed so obvious to just walk in unprepared. With the attack that had happened recently, he guessed that someone was trying to weaken the Avengers in some way. If they were able to do all the things that he had seen, it certainly would be possible for them to mess with his head so he wouldn't be going into court ready for what was to come. And wouldn't that explain why Maggie had popped back into their lives after so long?

    Of course, it was all just speculation right now. He had no proof that losing Cassie had been because of any outside influence. Maybe Maggie had just heard about his new position and had become worried that her daughter would come to harm. If he'd been in the same boat, Scott knew he would have been worried.

    He wished that there was some way he could get a message through to Cassie, just so that he could end her worrying. But even if he got an ant to head off with some manner of message, it would take them just as long to get to her as it would to get there himself. He also didn't know if there would be any problems getting into Maggie's, which might mean he would either have to change his plans and find a different spot to meet her, or try to get a message across without going inside.

    He sent his thoughts through the night, even though he knew no one would hear him.  _I'm coming for you, Cassie. I swear it._

* * *

 

    It so far looked to be a peaceful night for the Sentry, so he could spend his time at home. His home was his refuge, where no one knew who he was. Even though he had told Steve his real name, he did not let any details about his other life slip out. While so far no one had been able to tie him to any unusual events, he still believed in taking no chances. What had happened with Tony today was a good example of that.

    He'd hoped to make certain that there was no effort made to rebuild the Avengers' mansion, because being on such familiar grounds might lead to people remembering things they should not. Over the years he had learned that while it was easy to change people's memories into something different, keeping them from remembering was another matter entirely. The sight of something related to the original event could be enough to trigger the real memories. If something were to remind anyone about a time Wanda had mentioned her children, for instance, that would be a tremendous blow to his plans.

    It was a good thing that he had made sure that anytime someone did come close to awareness of the modification of their memory he would be alerted. That was why he had been able to get over to the tower when Tony had begun thinking about repairs. He sighed, and wished that Iron Man was easier to influence. Having to keep muddling his mind was getting to be a bit of a pain. At least he had come up with a plan to get him out of the way at some point. The Sentry also saw his latest idea as serving an even greater purpose: it would weaken all the bonds between the heroes and make his ultimate goals easier to achieve. Sadly, it might mean the loss of some life, but sometimes you needed to make sacrifices in order to obtain the greater good.

    It was time for him to go and look over anyone who might be a threat. If he wanted, he could appear at the side of whoever he wished, but that ran the risk of someone recognizing him. So he settled for a more distant surveillance. He only briefly skimmed the minds of those he wished to see, but when he got to the Scarlet Witch he was shocked.

    Instead of the fear and worry he thought he would see, there was a sense of relief and a relaxed feeling. More probing revealed the reason: she had an ally. The Sentry thought that he had been able to keep Wanda from getting help somewhere, but he hadn't thought about Firebird. Bonita Juarez had crossed his mind once or twice, but he'd never thought she'd be a threat due to her lack of connections to the team. Yes, she had been a help at certain points recently, but who would think of the Avengers and think of her?

    A quick check of Firebird's thoughts showed him that she was fully on Wanda's side. And it would make no difference now even if he did modify her memory, because all it would take to restore her would be one conversation with Wanda. Making it so that Bonita only heard words of madness coming from Wanda would also no longer work, because there was a good chance that she would end up thinking she was the crazy one.

    He hated having to do this, but there was no other option. If either woman was able to speak to the Avengers and put their case forward, they would realize they had been tricked in some way. Given the problems he'd been having with Tony, the risk of his plans getting sidetracked would be far too high. He sent his thoughts forward and watched as the familiar figures emerged from the darkness.

    The shadows were one of his favorite creations. They were immune to any form of physical attack, and they looked menacing enough to make most heroes wary. The Sentry normally only sent them out to briefly battle with a hero he felt was getting in his way or was rising too high, but tonight they would serve a different purpose. “Do you see these women?” Images of Firebird and the Scarlet Witch appeared in front of him. As the shadows made noises, he said. “Find them. I will tell you where to go. And when you have found them, destroy them. Let me know as soon as your mission is complete.”

    When they were finished, he planned on going and setting up a scene. Everyone would accept that Wanda in her madness had seen Bonita as a threat, and that in their fight they had both perished. A terrible tragedy. And with Wanda out of the way, there would be no chance of anyone question the official version of events. Maybe her brother would, but no one would take him seriously and before too much longer he would have something else to occupy his time.

    With a smile on his face, the Sentry turned towards how to make the second stage of his plan work. First he would need to find another team to manipulate, and from there necessary chaos could erupt. He hoped to have a good candidate by the end of the night.

    And the man who wanted to be a hero slipped further into darkness, darkness that he was blinded to. 

 


	7. Attacks and Answers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bonita and Wanda are attacked by strange creatures, and find the name of their enemy. Vision is the recipient of an ominous message.

    Bonita had been feeling a sense of worry ever since dinner had been finished. She couldn't really explain why, but she had the feeling someone was watching her. She might have dismissed it as being nothing, except for seeing that Wanda was also glancing around. She asked “Do you feel it, too?”

    “Yes. There's something in the air.”

    And as Wanda finished speaking, a strange noise could be heard. “It's coming from outside.” She went and opened the door to see what was going on, and was greeted by a terrifying sight.

    Standing in her yard were several figures wrapped in darkness. They did not look to be humanoid in any way, and just seemed to have a vague notion of structure holding them together. One of them hissed in a sinister way “Destroy them.”

    The light and flame that came forward from Bonita when she first used her powers caused the shadows to step back. It made sense that shadows would be afraid of the light, and this gave her confidence as she moved forward. She counted four of them, but was uncertain if more were lurking out of her sight.

    The first blast she sent in the direction of the shadows didn't even cause them to flinch. Bonita then sent forward one with more force, but that also seemed to have no effect. Gathering up all of her energy, she fired at the creatures with all she could muster. Still nothing. She could hear sounds coming from the shadows, sounds of laughter. "Destroy Firebird," they said. They moved closer, and she started to shiver with the cold aura coming from them.

    There was a sudden eruption of light, and she turned her head to see Wanda holding what looked like a globe of light. "I'll try to keep them back! Don't get too close!"

    With the way things had gone before, Bonita had no plans of coming too close. Shifting tactics, she fired off a blast of heat instead of force. The creature it hit roared in pain, and she knew she had found something that worked. A second burst caused it to dissolve into the night, sending a chill down her spine.

    Now there were three of them left, but she could only see two. Her eyes darting around, she spotted one of them hovering over Wanda, who appeared to be concentrating on something. Not wanting to have her lose her focus, Bonita launched herself into the air and flew up towards the shadow. The heat that came from her flight seemed to hurt the thing in some way, but it didn't look to have been put back all that much. She prepared to launch another blast of heat at it.

    The two creatures on the ground were now surrounded by a circle of flames, and Wanda looked up at her and mouthed "Thank you."

    Bonita kept firing at the airborne shadow until it too dissolved. She opted to stay aloft to handle the ones that remained. Wanda looked to be trying to get the flames to envelope them, and that gave her an idea. Instead of trying to use the heat she could generate alone, she could use it to feed the fire. Already starting to feel fatigue, she didn't want to lose all her strength while she was still mid-air.

    While she had been concerned about what might happen if she fed the flames, the risk of leaving the shadows was far greater. Bonita started by giving out small amounts of heat, and as the shadows recoiled she pushed herself farther and farther. The flames kept on growing until an inferno was burning, and that seemed to do the trick. The remaining creatures dissolved with screams, and she landed next to Wanda.

    She could be heard to say a few words, and the fire vanished. There wasn't even a scorch mark left behind as it blinked out of existence. Wanda's shoulders slumped, and she looked as tired as Bonita felt. “Let's go inside,” was what she said.

     Now safely inside, both women sat down in the living room, trying to take in what had just happened. Bonita was the first one to say anything. “I guess I'm more out of practice than I thought. I should have known that heat would work best after I saw how they reacted to light.”

    “No, it wasn't a bad idea to try something else. For all you knew the light would weaken them enough to unmake them via physical means. And I was negligent in not doing something to keep out things like that. I knew there was dark magic involved here, but I let down my guard too much after you let me in.”

    Her words led to more questions. “How can you tell if something is dark magic? Is it because they were affected by the light?”

    Wanda shook her head. “No, there are times when something like that might be important to use. It's more about what the purpose of the creatures is and how you feel around them. The cold we were feeling was a big sign – normally you shouldn't feel anything around a servant that's unusual. They also said they were supposed to destroy us, and normally a spell-caster shouldn't send anything against a foe that's primed to do harm. Most good forms of magic say that you should only use lethal force if you have absolutely no other option. It confirms my suspicions from before, that we're under attack by some powerful magic user. Of course, the question now is who and why.” She sighed.

    All of this felt so new to her. “I haven't ever really dealt with people who use magic on a regular basis. I mean, I've seen things that I guess were from some kind of magic, but I never really thought about it that much. Maybe I should have tried to learn more.” A part of her was now thinking that it was a good thing that she hadn't gone through with her desire to rejoin the Avengers, since how much good could she be if she wasn't educated on the kinds of threats they might face.

    “I understand. Before I started training with Agatha, I barely even knew magic existed. I mean, I'd met a couple of people who said they had magical powers, but I just thought they had some other kind of special ability or were just trying to con people. Only once I started to see things that couldn't be explained in any other way did it dawn on me that I might have been wrong.”

    Another thought came to Bonita. “Do you think that whoever sent those things is going to try and do something else?”

    “At some point, probably. They're going to wait a bit if they're smart, because they should realize we're going to be on guard for a while. I'm going to try and see if there are some things I can do to make us safer. I'm sorry, Bonita. I've put you in danger by coming here.”

    “Don't be sorry. If they're acting against the Avengers in general and not just you then it won't matter if you stay or go.” An idea for protection came to her. “Do you think it might help if I had Father Matthews come over and bless the place?”

    Wanda had to think about it for a while. “I think it would help, but you'd need to give a good reason for having it done. We can't risk other people being drawn into this. It's risky enough for us as is.”

    Having seen what their foe was already capable of, she could understand. Not knowing what would be good to say without letting too much slip, she pushed the idea aside for now. “I don't want to get him hurt, so I won't ask. Do you know of anything we could do to keep safe here?”

    “The only thing I know off the top of my head is to put salt around the place. But I strongly doubt you have enough lying around to surround the entire house the way we would need to.”

     “I've got a big bag of salt here – I like to just get the bulk size and use it as I need. How much are we talking about to block anything?”

    “The barrier needs to be about an inch thick all the way around. And I'd want to put it on the roof as well.”

    Bonita did some quick visualizing of how that would go, and said “You're right, that would be more than I have. But couldn't we just try to protect a smaller area? It would put restraints on where we could go, but at least it would be something.”

    Wanda contemplated that. “The bedrooms could be done without too much trouble. That way we wouldn't have to worry about something coming in during the night and we could get some sleep.”

    “Then let me get the salt.”

     They worked without too much trouble, and had enough so that the living room could be blocked off while still leaving some left. “Not perfect, since if something wants to get inside it still could. But at least they couldn't get too far.”

    Bonita now had another question for Wanda. “If I were to do this without you being here, would that help out, or does there need to be some magic for it to work?”

    “I think there might be some small effect. But the biggest reason this'll work is because I'm putting a little something into it. Salt's a good conductor for mystic energy, which is why you use it for protection.”

    All the new information she was getting intrigued her. “You know, how would I go about learning more about magic?”

    "Books can give you some information, and I'll find some for you that you might like. But the best way to learn more is to talk to someone who practices magic. Like I said before, I'm pretty much an amateur. So I probably couldn't help as much as I'd like to."

    "Who would you recommend I speak with?"

    "The person who I know best would be Stephen. We've done some work together in the past, and he knows more than anyone else in the world. Also, he likes to talk to people about what he does. He's even put the offer forward to have me come and study with him. I never went and took him up on it, because I'm normally so busy with Avengers' business. Before all this started, Agatha was telling me she wanted me to go and study as well. I wish I had listened to her, though. I wonder if she knew what was coming."

    One of the names Wanda had used was unfamiliar to her. "I've never heard of Agatha before. Who is she?"

    "Agatha was my teacher in magic. I met her after Pietro got married, and she taught me up until I married Vision. Ever since we came back from that other world, I've spent more time with her, but I still wonder what was really going on there."

    The way she put it sounded confusing. "What do you mean by that? What was happening that you thought was odd?"

    Wanda shook her head, fatigue lining her face. "After everything was over they went to her home to speak to her, only to find the home abandoned and a seemingly long-dead Agatha Harkness. I can accept that who is doing this would have gotten rid of her, but why make it look like she'd been gone for so long? Are they trying to say I've been crazy even before Jan talked to me?"

     Bonita thought about the matter. "Maybe they're trying to cover all their bases. After all, if people who've been around you lately came over to the team and spoke up on your behalf, that would be a pretty big blow to the idea you just snapped recently. If everyone could say in response that the reason people wouldn't have seen anything different is because you were insane before that, then it would cut off a line of questioning."

    She still looked upset. "I keep replaying in my head all the times we spoke before. Except for talking a bit about not having enough time, I can't recall anything she did that seemed unusual. Sometimes I start to wonder if I really was just seeing things all along."

    Bonita couldn't stand seeing Wanda doubt herself so much. "Has anyone else you know of spoken to her at some point nearby?"

    "Yes. Vision."

    Deflated, she said "So that's not going to help us right now. I wonder how long it's going to take before they are finished restoring him."

    "The only way I could think of knowing the answer to that would be to ask Hank, and I can't do that now. And if you were to talk to him instead, he might be wondering why you're asking."

    That made sense. She had dated Hank for a period of time before their essential differences in outlook led to the termination of their relationship. The times they had worked together since then hadn't been uncomfortable, but she couldn't say she was close to him. He certainly would have questions about why she was asking about Vision, who Bonita had never been close to. It was unlikely that he would make the connection between her asking and Wanda, but one of the best things to do right now was to act normally. She got up and said "I'm going to turn in for the night. Don't know how much sleep I'll actually be able to get, but if I don't at least try it'll be worse. Goodnight, Wanda. I'll see you in the morning."

    "Sleep well, Bonita." Judging by the sound of her voice, Wanda was going to have as much trouble getting rest as she thought she would.

    It felt funny to walk into her room and hear the crunch of the salt as she passed through the doorway. For a few moments she wonder if the door should be open or closed, but decided that this time she wouldn't shut it.

    Eventually she fell into a restless sleep, on guard for more of the creatures or some other type of threat.

* * *

 

    In the morning, Wanda could tell that Bonita hadn't slept any better than she had. She yawned multiple times while eating her breakfast, and she asked "Do you think you might want to stay home today?"

    "No, I'll feel better if I go to work. Besides, you did tell me to just go on like normal. Missing one day isn't a big deal, but the more time I take off the more unusual it would look."

    Reminded of her own words, she felt a bit sheepish. "You're right. I'm probably going to have to go out today myself."

    "Is there something you need that I could get? I don't want to put you in any more danger than we already are."

    Bonita's concern was touching. "There are some things that I might need to figure out who's behind all of this. I'm going to look through the books I bought and see what they recommend. A lot of the things you use for magic aren't likely to be lying around the house, so I'm probably going to have to go out and get supplies."

    She looked to be curious about something, and finally said "Can I ask you a question?"

    "Of course."

    "I've noticed that you've been talking about using magic quite a lot, but haven't said anything about your hexes. Is there a reason for that?"

    Talking about this wasn't going to be easy, and felt hard to explain. "Because it's my powers that they say caused me to go crazy and cause all those things to happen. If I'm not using them then there's a chance it might put a hole in that theory. And right now given everything  _I_ don't feel safe using my hexes either. What if that's the way whoever is doing this was able to find us?"

    “If they were able to do all those other things, I can't imagine that finding us would be all that much harder. I mean, how hard was it for you to know you should find me?”

    “I did a simple spell to see who might be of help. At first the people I got weren't able to help me for whatever reason, but after I put my Avengers card into the mix I was able to get your name. What I need to do now is more complicated, since I have no idea of who's behind all this. When I was looking before, I had an idea that someone who had been on the team could help me. The spell I used needed to have some information about what you were looking for in order to work, and even then I needed to put in something to help out. So that one isn't going to help us.”

    Bonita nodded. “So you've never had to do something like this before. What are you going to do if the books you have don't have the information you need?”

    “I think I should find something, but on the off chance I don't then I'm going to have to find a place that sells the books I would need. That's going to be hard, since I don't know the area and those sorts of places aren't likely to advertise themselves.”

    “You don't know the area, but I do. Can you tell me what I might need to look for so I can tell you where you might need to go?”

    It was a perfect solution. “Well, if you know of any used bookstores around, you can go ask them if they have a restricted section. If they don't know what you're talking about, move on. If they ask you why you want to know say you've got a friend in the Art. That should let them know you're trustworthy. Also try to look for an older place – newer stores are a lot less likely to have those things around.”

    “There's a bookstore near my office I sometimes go in to browse during my lunch. I'll go and ask them today. Worst case, I just end up looking like a bit of a fool.” She sounded so unflappable that Wanda felt impressed. The few times she had to talk to people about the existence of magic the overwhelming reaction had been utter disbelief. Bonita wasn't quite the same as the others had been, since she had seen any number of things while working as a hero. But even with that she could have shown a great deal more skepticism.

    “If it doesn't work out, don't worry. I may not even need more help.”

    “I'll go and check it out anyway. Good luck, Wanda.”

* * *

 

    He was floating in the darkness.

    Something had gone wrong, and there was the feeling of being torn apart, and then nothing. He could vaguely hear a voice whispering “Now is not your time,” but it was so brief he wondered if he had heard it at all.

    Where was he? Had the team taken him somewhere to be repaired? But if that was the case, why couldn't he hear them speaking to him? At the very least, Wanda would have been at his side until he was well.

    For Vision, his sense of time felt off as well. There was nothing in the darkness to tell when it was, and without a need for sleep it could have been years passing by without him knowing. If he were to ever emerge from the dark, would he awaken to find all he knew dead and gone?

    “Oh, I never wished to meet you like this. Nowhere near your time, it is, and so much danger for all. My daughter – you must try and help her.”

    This time the voice rang loud and clear to him. Vision could now see a woman who was floating in the darkness. She looked to be tired, and also relieved to see him. “May I ask you are you?”

    “Marya, I'm Marya. But there isn't enough time for introductions. Someone must come and get you soon. I thought once I came here I wouldn't have to worry about losing anyone ever again. But Wanda, she's in danger. He'll stop at nothing to keep her from the truth. You're one of the only ones who can prove she's not sick. They will listen to you, and hopefully then both of you can find – forget about that.” The last bit came out in a rush, and he strained to think of who he might need to find. “I'm afraid he'll pull me away, like he did with Agatha. And I don't belong on Earth anymore. It should all be so peaceful, with almost all of us together again, not the way it's been since then. When I saw what he was going to do to my grandchildren, it was such a shock. There was some decency in him, though.”

    Her identity was now clear. This had to be Marya Maximoff, the woman who had raised Wanda and Pietro as her own. What confused him was what she said about her grandchildren. “What” he was going to do? His boys had been destroyed, an act that still hurt to think about. At the time he had been bereft of all emotions, and Vision admitted to himself that he hadn't wanted to get them back after that. What good would it do if he could feel things again but was crushed under the weight of unimaginable grief? By the time he had been able to fully grasp the issue, enough time had passed that it was no longer quite so hard. Yet he still took some time to honor the day that William and Thomas had been born, perhaps the best day of his life save for marrying Wanda. He did so without telling anyone, because he felt that it would be undignified to have others see him break down so completely.

    The last time he had truly spoken about his children to anyone was the time he had gone to see Agatha. Wanda had mentioned she was going to visit her, and Vision had asked to come along with her. He had questions that needed to be asked, questions he could not voice to anyone else. And when he had finally gotten a moment to speak to her alone, he had said “For years now I have been wondering why you said the things you did about Billy and Tommy. You knew exactly how they were born, and I know that what you said to Wanda could not be the truth. Why did you do such a thing? It devastated her.”

    She looked upset at hearing the words, and said “Right now I cannot explain what happened. Please remember what you told me, and know that in time all things will come to light.”

    The answer hadn't resolved much of his questions, and Wanda's return had made Vision unable to speak more. He had rarely spoken of their loss to her, feeling guilt at how he had reacted then. His actions had fueled her breakdown even further, and he hated that he had not been able to support her.

    Clearing all of those thoughts from his head, he asked Marya “Wanda is in danger? What has happened to her?”

    “They say she's done everything, but she's innocent. The one who caused this is now in the position he wanted to get, and is going to cause even more pain. Division and destruction, that's what awaits all unless he can be stopped. I cannot give you his name, but I know his face. He can pull you from the beyond or do whatever strikes his fancy. You must stop him before it's too late.” 

    Vision had little idea of who this person could be, and the thought that he was making them blame Wanda stunned him even more. "I saw her when I was hurt. I know she couldn't have done it. We had plans for later, and she was in so much pain. Please, tell me who it is who is doing this."

    "I wish I could tell you, but I do not know his name. He hides himself so even spirits cannot see, and uses some of the darkest magic there is. He cares nothing for what might happen if he changes the world to suit his whims. Too much of that will allow darkness to flow into your world, and it will never be able to be held back."

    The sense of impending doom was now weighing on him fully. "What can I do to stop him?"

    She was now fading away, and said "Unless you are brought back to life, then you are powerless. But there is hope that will change. I pray it is on terms other than his."

    And he was alone in the darkness again. There had been so much information given, and Vision felt completely helpless. He now knew that the Avengers had a dangerous enemy, one who was apparently capable of causing great destruction, but all he could do was wait. The words about not coming back on his terms frightened him even more. This enemy then wanted him to be under his control somehow, for whatever his plans turned out to be.

    So he waited for whatever was to come, vowing to fight back against his foe by any means he could use.

* * *

 

    Her mission to the bookstore had been successful. Bonita felt strange going up to the person behind the counter and asking the question she had been instructed to, but when he answered “Why would you want to know that?” she knew she was on the right track.

    “I have a friend in the Art,” she stated like she had been told.

    His face narrowed a bit, and he leaned in closer and said “Please follow me.”

    While Bonita had never been the kind of person who thinks the back holds everything one might want to find, she did believe there had to be something there. But the room they entered was mostly empty, with a few chairs and one table that was listing to the side. The man sat down, and then told her “I would like to know if there's a reason your friend can't come here. I'm not going to have you looking over this stuff by yourself, because I can tell you don't have even the slightest bit of magical training.”

    “She's trying to keep a low profile. I don't know if she's going to need more resources, but I thought going and looking couldn't hurt.”

    “Do you know what she's trying to do?”

    “Find someone who's been causing us harm. We don't know who they are or what they want.”

    “She may need some equipment to do that. I can get a few things for you that might help out.”

    While glad for the help, one thing didn't make sense. “I'm curious. Why is it okay for me to get those things, but not look at any books?”

     “Because the things I'm going to sell you don't have any powers beyond what you put in them. They're just tools. If you aren't doing anything related to magic with them, they can't do anything. The books all have magic inside the pages, and if you don't have any training in how to deal with it, then you're in trouble.”

    The things she got were some candles, a small bag of some kind of herb, and a little glass sphere. Bonita paid for all of them and left feeling good about what she had been able to do.

    Coming home, she was greeted by a wonderful smell coming from the kitchen. Wanda was in there, watching over a pot. “Hi. How were things today? I did find some spell I might be able to use, but I don't know if I've got the tools needed. So I decided to go and make some soup. I used up the chicken we had left – I hope that's alright with you.”

    A grin. “I have no issue with someone cooking for me, and I love chicken soup. Do you know what sorts of things you might need?”

    “Candles, which I don't think you have here. I'm also going to need a conduit for the energy being put out there. And it has to be done at night, with the moon at least partially visible.”

    “I don't know about the conduit part, but I did get a chance to stop by that bookstore I mentioned yesterday. The man I spoke with wouldn't let me even see the books, but he did sell me some candles. Do they need to be made of anything in particular, or will plain wax ones do?” Bonita could remember having seen a movie where in order to do some kind of magic you needed to have just the right kind of candles, down to the tallow. She had thought while watching it that it would likely be a lot less trouble to just find out the information you needed via more conventional means. Having not seen the movie for a very long time, she didn't know what it was they had been trying to find out in the first place, but anything else had to be easier than making a bunch of candles.

     “Nothing specific was mentioned, and since you got those at the store I think they should work out. As for the conduit, I just need to find something that conducts well. I'm thinking of using some spices from the kitchen. Not perfect, but I'd rather get this done sooner than later.”

    She brought out the other items. “Will any of these help?”

    Wanda gave them a quick scan, and said “The sphere isn't going to help right now, because it's mainly used to observe people you know. I can use it to take a look at Pietro, and make sure he's alright.” The packet she took with delight. “Oh, this will be perfect. Now I don't have to worry about using up anything of yours.”

    Bonita wouldn't have cared if she had to take everything that was in the kitchen in order to make things right again. Right now she felt it would be better to not say anything, and avoid reminders of all the stress they were under.

    They ate quickly, with both glancing outside to see if the weather was going to hold up. It wasn't going to be a night of a new moon, but cloudiness could put a damper on things. Wanda stepped outside once she had finished eating, and nodded approvingly. “It looks like conditions should be what I need. Let's get this done.”

    “Do you want me there, or is there anything I can help you with?”

    “Hand me the candles and herbs when I ask for them. Then tell me if you see a face at any time.”

     Wanda, once she was outside, began to whisper something Bonita couldn't hear. It was dark enough that you weren't able to make out any major details, but the moon gave enough light so you could see something. She waited for any instructions.

     “Please hand me a candle.” She did so, and watched as a hand waved over it and a strange light started to emit from the candle. There was a charged feeling in the air, like a storm was coming.

    A second candle was turned over, and smoke began to gather around Wanda. She asked for the herbs, and proceeded to toss them to the ground and into the flames of the candles. She stared at the smoke, and as Bonita watched something was formed. While she was sure it was a face, it stayed for too short a period of time for her to make note of any features.

    The herbs that had been tossed on the ground were now swirling about, and as the flames of the candles went out, she saw something had been spelled out.  _Robert Reynolds._ “Well. I was sort of expecting a slightly more impressive name. Who's heard of a villain who's called Robert?”

    Wanda sounded amused as well. “I know there are people named Robert we've fought against, but they always called themselves something different. Maybe he's just trying to go unnoticed?”

    “But that wouldn't work, because you'd be more likely to remember someone who's using their own name. And I can't recall ever having gone up against anyone with that name, regardless of whether they were using it or not. Do you remember anyone like that?”

     “No. There's been absolutely no one in my life who has that name, whether I fought against them or not.” She had another question for Bonita. "May I ask what kind of a name you were expecting to hear?"

    "The Doommaster," she said in a deadpan tone. "That sounds like the kind of name someone like that would use. Aren't most of them a bunch of egomaniacs anyway?"

     It was probably the completely serious expression on her face that caused Wanda to burst into hysterical laughter. While Bonita had seen her at ease before, she had yet to see a true moment of happiness ever since she walked in the door. "Oh, but you're right. I was going through the names of our foes, and so many of them use the most impressive names they can come up with. So this Robert must be someone unique. Maybe he has a nickname and the reason he snapped was because everyone kept calling him Robert."

    Bonita burst into laughter herself. "Yes, that's it. 'You didn't think of me as Rob, so now it's payback time." And they stood in the yard laughing, just trying to find a small amount of joy in a situation that was so dire.

* * *

 

     Before she went to sleep, Wanda decided to go and see if she could find out what Pietro was doing now. She hoped that no one was going to blame him for her flight, and that he at least had some idea that she was safe. Ideally she would be able to speak with him to tell him that all was well, but without knowing if Pietro was being watched she couldn't risk it.

    Save for the period of time after he had been hurt and found by Crystal, this was the longest time she had spent without at least being able to know how her brother was doing. Wanda still wondered if it might have been better if she had gotten him before fleeing to Bonita's. No one had seemed to be looking for her, so maybe it wouldn't have made a difference. But even as she thought about it, she realized that it wouldn't have worked. If Pietro had gone on the run with her, then he would be unable to see or speak to Luna for some time. Despite his prickly nature, he held a deep love for his daughter and having to be parted from her would cause him so much pain. It was already enough of a challenge for Pietro to either go to the moon to see Luna or have her come to him on Earth. No, it was for the best that he stayed where he was.

     She picked up the glass sphere Bonita had gotten for her, vowing to repay her as soon as she could. The level of support Wanda had received was far beyond what she had hoped for, and if the time came that the Avengers chose to add another member to their ranks, she would vouch for Firebird wholeheartedly.

    As long as they were willing to listen to her.

    Mindful of the time difference, Wanda tried to summon a glance from a few hours ago, when Pietro would likely still be awake.

    He was on the phone, speaking with someone. "Isn't there something else you could do?" His expression was not happy.

    Whatever answer the person he was speaking with gave, it wasn't affirmative. "I understand. But I know this is hurting you. Can you try and speak to someone and tell them this is too much?"

       Pietro just listened to what the person on the other line was saying, and his face fell as he heard more. "I can do it then. I'll need a little time to get everything together. How long do you have?" His face fell. " _Tomorrow?_ Why so soon?"

     As the explanation was given to him, he started to blink back a few tears. "Then I'll be ready for then. I'm sorry this had to happen to you."

    Wanda had no idea who he might be speaking to, or what request was being made. She doubted it was connected to the Avengers in any way, because what he was saying indicated it was personal. It also didn't seem likely that Pietro would be so upset over something related to the team. As she watched, he hung up the phone and sighed. He paced around, still looking to be shedding a few tears.

     She broke off the connection, having seen all that she needed to see. Pietro wasn't in any major trouble as far as she could see, and that took a weight off her shoulders. Maybe there would be some way of getting in touch with him discretely, such as by sending a letter. Wanda knew she still had to be careful, because she was sure they were still keeping an eye on him to make certain he wasn't hiding her somewhere. But at least they weren't holding him the way they had with her.

    After making certain that the protections she had put in place yesterday were still active, Wanda headed off to bed. She thought that tonight she would sleep better, because she now at least had a name for the person who was framing her. His motivation still was foggy, since she didn't know anything about him other than the name. But it was something.

    And in her dreams that night, she saw herself walking through the door to a house, saying "I'm finally coming home." Where that home was was not shown, or how she would find it. But it gave her a sense of hope.

 


	8. Meeting and Planning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cassie gets an unexpected visitor, and works on a plan with her friends to help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is one of the chapters where more of the AU aspects are becoming clear. If you noticed any absences, all I can say is "Wait."

    "That's enough! Leave this table and go to your room, _now!_ "

    "I wasn't hungry anyway," Cassie mumbled to herself. She thought she could hear her mother yelling at her to never speak like that to her again, but didn't really care even if she was.

    Wanting to slam the door behind her, but not wanting to risk getting into more trouble, she was alone. Based on everything she had seen, her mother wasn't very likely to do anything else now that she had the problem removed. Later on tomorrow, she'd probably get lectured on proper respect for her elders.

    Cassie did have a great deal of respect for her elders that had earned said respect. It struck her as being unfair that if you were a kid you always had to make sure you were polite to everyone, but adults could be as rude to children as they wanted to. Dad had kind of agreed with her in that he thought it was unfair that being polite to children wasn't always done, but had said "You still need to be respectful, Cass." And if he had heard about how it was her mother she wasn't respecting, then things could get really rough.

    She tried not to think too much about Dad. Her mother had told her that since his body had apparently been destroyed there wasn't going to be any kind of burial. Uncle Tony had arranged for the Avengers she had known to come together for a service of sorts, and afterwards he had told her "Call me if you need anything, okay?" She'd almost done it once, but doubted that he was going to let her live with him, especially after the new team was formed. It would be too dangerous for her to stay there.

    The fight at the table had been triggered by her mother asking her about a school project she had heard Cassie was working on. "Why didn't you tell me about that?"

    Her answer had come out before she could think about it. "Well, why weren't you there during the last seven years or so that I've been in school? Tell me that, okay?"

    True or not, it wasn't the type of thing you said to your mother. So she could understand why she'd been sent away. Honestly, it wasn't that much of a punishment anyway. Cassie never really knew what to say to her most of the time, and spending time with her felt so awkward. What do you say to someone who just left you right when you needed them the most?

    When you are four years old, your parents seem like they are the most powerful forces in the whole world. To Cassie, all that her father losing his job meant was that now he got to spend more time with her at home. Once she suggested he could go work at McDonalds, "because then we could eat there everyday!" He'd laughed and said that wasn't a good choice for him. The matter of money never crossed her mind, because she'd always had the things she needed. Sure, they couldn't do all the things they had done before, and she didn't go to day-care anymore, but her mother was working and everything was fine.

    The day of the Empty Home was one that she couldn't ever forget. She had gone out with her father for a while in the afternoon, and had thought her mother would be home when they got back, maybe even starting dinner. The darkness had at first frightened her, but Dad had told her things were okay, her mother was probably just busy and hadn't come home yet. It had been a lie, but one that helped Cassie to sleep that night. It wasn't until the next day that she was told that her mother would no longer be living in their home.

    Someone had told her once about how terrible it must have been to live in foster care while her father was in prison, but she'd never agreed with that. Yes, it wasn't a good thing to be separated from him, but she'd known where he was and got to see him on a regular basis. Mrs. and Mr. Glenn had also been very kind to her, and didn't mind if she talked about how she missed Dad. Mr. Glenn had once told her that it was nice that she had such a good relationship with him, because a lot of the other kids they took care of weren't so lucky. Since Dad had been released, she'd seen them a few times and that was always nice. No, that hadn't been the worst thing to happen to her.

    What was worse was what happened after her mother left them. For months Cassie had held out hope that any day now she would come home and find out her mother was there and wanted to see her. That hope was permanently dashed when her father went to prison. Whether she hadn't wanted to care for her or just couldn't be located by the authorities, her mother was gone from her life. The pain she had felt then lingered for some time. All the times in school when you were told to make a gift for your mother, the other kids at school events showing off their families, or any of the little moments she was missing out on added up. She didn't fault her father, knowing he tried the best he could to be both mother and father to her. As Cassie approached adolescence, the anger she felt grew. She had planned that if she ever met her mother again she would yell at her, "Why did you leave me?"

    Naturally, the first time she'd heard there was going to be a hearing about where she should live she hadn't taken it very seriously. Of course she wanted to stay with Dad. What else would she say? It was a shock that no one had even bother to ask her what she wanted, and instead just shuffled her off to live with her mother and her new husband.

    She was getting a message on her phone. Glancing over, she saw it was Eli Bradley, one of her oldest friends. _Haven't seen you online tonight. What's up?_

    Thankful that she at least had this with her, she typed up a response. _M. got mad at dinner when I said she hadn't been there for me. Had to go to my room._ Out of all the kids she knew, Eli and herself were the only ones she knew of who would type out full sentences in their texts. Eli's reasoning behind this was how stupid he felt if he just used abbreviations for everything, and in Cassie's case she'd been told by her father that if she knew how to spell things properly then that was how you should do it. "People are going to expect you to write better when you get a real job, Cass. Practice makes perfect."

_That stinks. You think she'll do anything else?_

_No, just getting me away should be enough. It's not like she really wants me here anyway._ And that was the sad truth. If her mother had shown any real joy in her presence, or had acted like she wanted to catch up on the time they had lost, then maybe she would have been willing to give her a second chance. But for the most part her mother just paid her no attention. Her stepfather was normally at least polite to her, although sometimes he would go on about how her father being a felon was a sign that he couldn't have done a very good job caring for Cassie. That would get her temper up, but at least since Dad had died he hadn't said anything like that.

    Eli sent her one final message. _Sorry to hear that. See you at school._

 _Thanks. See you tomorrow._ She was always glad to talk to Eli. He'd been one of her closest friends since she'd been in third grade and started to have those problems with her heart, even though he was two grades ahead of her.. The amount of worrying she had done at the time was huge, given that Dad still hadn't found a job and it cost a lot of money to get an operation. Things had ended up working out in the best possible way, but at the time the uncertainty was horrible. Eli could relate on some level because he'd been in a terrible accident while riding his bike a year later. He'd been hurt so badly that he needed a blood transfusion from his uncle Josiah immediately to save his life. One of the things he shared with Cassie afterwards was how he felt like everyone in his family was watching over him like a hawk. "What do they think is going to happen, that I'll grow another head or something? The doctor said I'm not going to have any problems, that I'm better. Why are they worrying so much?"

    She decided to crack open her algebra homework. It wasn't her favorite subject, but she knew that she had to keep up with her school work. If she didn't, then her teachers would try and get a hold of her mother to talk with her. That was the last thing in the world she needed.

    Cassie was so focused on her work that it took a little while before she noticed something moving on the carpet. She looked away from her desk and could see a few ants crawling over to her. The sight was making her blink back tears, remembering the times she'd spent with Dad. _Why did you have to die?_

    There seemed to be more of them, and she almost couldn't believe her eyes as she saw more and more of them gathering. Soon they were starting to form something, and she took a sharp breath as the word CASSIE became clear.

    "Dad?" she whispered, not wanting to get her hopes up. She waited for any sign he was there, but saw nothing. After a moments thought, she walked over to her closet and pulled out an old magnifying glass she'd gotten. Kneeling down, she could see there was a figure sitting on top of one of the ants.

    Dad! He was alive! But how? Why hadn't he come here earlier? Why didn't he just get bigger so they could talk normally? As far as she knew, there wasn't a way to make it so that you couldn't turn off the effects of the Pym Particles, so even if the suit got damaged he should have been able to return to normal. Clearly there had to be some kind of problem, and right now the biggest issue she could see was trying to talk to him. While Cassie knew that he could hear her, she couldn't say the same for herself. And now more than ever she needed to speak to her father.

    Desperate times called for desperate measures, as they said. She hadn't known if Dad had ever figured out what she kept in her sock drawer, but now was the time to put it to good use. Going and grabbing the supplies, Cassie felt the strange sensation of the world growing larger. She was glad she'd done a few practice runs before today.

    And at last she was able to look at the face of Scott Lang. He looked tired and dirty, but had a big grin on his face. "It's so good to see you, Cassie."

    She ran over to him and grabbed him in a hug. She knew that she was crying, and that Dad was too. After a while of just standing there, she responded with "I thought I'd never see you again."

    "I knew you were going to worry, but at this size the distance between here and the mansion was like a thousand miles. I wanted to try and get a message to you, but I didn't know how I could do that." He sighed. "I'm going to take it everyone thinks I'm dead. What's happened?"

    Now that was something that could take all day! "I've got no idea where to begin. I'll just give you a brief summary: the Avengers have been pretty much disbanded, there's a new team in town, and it was Wanda who caused all of this."

 

* * *

 

    Scott had been aware of Cassie taking his equipment for some time. He had wanted to have a talk with her about taking things that don't belong to you, even if you put them back, but the events involving Maggie had put that on the back burner. He didn't really blame her for being curious about what the particles did, and wasn't opposed to her trying them out. But going behind his back was not acceptable. But right now wasn't a good time to bring the issue up either, so instead he just asked about how things had gone since the attack.

    Everything sounded like a bad dream up until the very last part. At that point he could only stare blankly. "Who was controlling her?" Now he understood why no one had come looking for him. They must be too busy trying to help Wanda out. God, she must feel so guilty! Had she had any awareness of what was going on, or had she not even realized she was being used?

    "No one. She's lost her mind."

    Scott didn't think there was a particular profile you could make of someone who was mentally ill, but he could say he had gotten to know Wanda fairly well. He could recall Christmas, when he'd learned how she had been a parent only to lose her children, and that had been heartbreaking to hear. She'd told him then "For the most part I'm able to deal with it, but there are times when the pain comes rushing back." It had been the first bridge between him and the team members he did not know, and it broke the ice for future missions.

    Trying to get a grasp on things, he asked "How did that happen?"

    "Jan brought up her kids one day, and I guess the shock of remembering just caused her mind to snap." Cassie sounded so matter-of-fact about the issue, but she was so wrong.

    "I know about what Jan said, because Wanda told me how insensitive she thought it was. But it didn't cause her to remember anything - she already knew about her children. I've heard her tell me about them. And everyone knew that. Why on earth did people say that was what must of made her snap?"

    Cassie looked like she'd been slapped. "Oh, God. I remember it now. You told me about how you'd learned about all that happened. How come I couldn't think of it before?"

    "I'm guessing its got something to do with the reason I can't get any bigger. I tried for a while, but it's just not working for me. I thought it might something mechanical, but I haven't been able to find anything wrong."

    "So, what did happen that day? I mean, I know you didn't die, but why couldn't you get back here sooner?"

    The most obvious thing he could say was that his size had kept him from getting to where he should be. But Scott could guess that the reason Cassie was saying that was due to the confusion she had at realizing her memory had been affected in some way. "Well, when I realized that something was going to happen, I went and shrunk down. I got knocked out by the explosion, and when I woke up there wasn't anybody else around. I waited a while, but figured out that nobody was going to come for me and that I had to go somewhere. I almost went over to Hank and Jan's, but I knew you'd be more worried about what had happened to me. So I came here. Took long enough that I kept thinking about how I'll never complain about having to walk somewhere ever again."

    She absorbed everything he had to say. "So, should we go over and speak to Hank now? I bet he could help you get back to normal."

    Scott pondered that for a little while. If the problem with his growth was connected to the suit or the Pym Particles, then Hank would be the best person to talk to. Yet that solution didn't quite feel right in light of learning that somehow everyone was saying it was Wanda's fault all of this had happened. Did the person responsible want him out of the way, or had he just been in the wrong place at the wrong time?

    Another thought came to mind: could they also have something to do with Maggie going to get custody of Cassie? Just like the idea that Wanda would go mad for no real reason and decide to hurt the Avengers, her showing up again made little sense when you actually sat down and tried to process it. With all that going on, Scott ended up saying "Not now."

    "Why?"

    "Because with everything that's happened, that's what they're going to expect. If whoever has done this is watching over me, then they're going to think I'll go to the people I trust most on the team. And who's to say that they'll even accept me, because they think I'm dead? You took it pretty well, but a lot of people would be shocked at having a dead man show up at their door. I want to try and lay low for a while." He then felt the need to add "Say, any chance you could go get something I could eat? I've been living off crumbs of things since I started to travel here, and you really don't want to know where some of those things have been."

    Cassie seemed embarrassed. "Um... I'm kind of in a little trouble right now, so that might not be a good idea."

    He frowned. "What did you do?"

    "I said that if my mother wanted me to keep her informed about what was going on in my life then she shouldn't have left me for so long. She didn't want to hear that."

    While her emotions were understandable, Scott did not want to hear that she was being rude to people. "Cass, that was a horrible thing to say."

    She looked away. "It's true."

    "Come on. You know better than that. You need to at least try and get along with your mother, because you have to live with her now. How are things going to be if you keep making trouble like that?"

    "It's not like she cares anyway. Half the time she doesn't even speak to me." Cassie didn't really look like she was trying to put up a fight, but also didn't want to give in.

    He sighed. "Right now, there's nothing we can do about that. Just please, try to get along with her. As soon as I can, I'll see what I can do." The way Maggie seemed to be treating Cassie wasn't making him all that much happier, but with everything that was going on now there wasn't all that much he could do. Later on, he would see what his options might be.

    "Okay." Her tone made it clear what she thought of all this. "Once I know everyone's in bed, I'll try to get something for you."

    "That should be alright." He was now wondering about one of the other things she had said. "You said they have a new team now. Who's on it?"

    "Iron Man, Captain America, Spider-Man, Power Man, Spider-Woman, Hawkeye, and some guy who's called the Sentry."

    Well, about half the names were ones he might have thought of. It was the last one that baffled him completely. "Who is the Sentry?"

    "I have no idea. I just heard something in the news about them doing something, and his name was there. I even asked Uncle Tony about him, but he didn't know anything either. He said that Steve's the only one who knows anything about him. I'm guessing he's an alien or something."

    That idea made sense, but Scott did wonder why he'd been taken on. They'd had members who were from other worlds in the past, but he hadn't had much of a chance to work with them. And why didn't Tony know anything about him? Was this connected to the bizarre events that had been happening? "I wish I could go and speak to them, but no one would be able to hear me." This gave him a good opening to talk about the issue he'd been putting off. "In fact, you shouldn't be able to speak with me, either."

    Cassie looked like she wanted the earth to swallow her whole. "I... kind of wanted to see what it was like. I was going to put it back, I swear. Then I had to move and..."

    He raised up his hand. "That's enough for now. We can talk about the issue more later. Right now I just want to get some food and make some plans of what to do next. There's got to be someone who we can find that no one's going to think we'll talk to. And now that I'm here I can really look into what might be causing the problem I'm having with growing."

    There was a knock on the door. "Cassie?"

    In a flash, Cassie was back to normal. She walked over to the door to see her stepfather standing there. Scott knew that no one could see him at this size, but he still felt uncomfortable listening to his daughter getting lectured by someone else. So he went and hid.

     All Cassie did through most of this was nod and promise to not say anything like that ever again. It didn't sound all that sincere, but he looked to be accepting her words at face value. "So are you going to go and apologize to your mother now?"

    "Yes." With that, they left and Scott had a few moments alone. He had a couple of other questions he wanted to ask Cassie about what had happened to Wanda. If she was being held responsible, then it would help her case to have him show up alive and somewhat well. If only he knew where to go.

    The door shut once more. "I got you some little bits of bread and cheese. Sorry it's not more." Cassie had begun to shrink almost as soon as she had shut the door. She handed him the food and he began to wolf it down.

    "Right now, anything seems good. Can I ask you one more question? Do you know what they've done with Wanda?"

    "No. It's like she doesn't exist for them. I was mad at her at first, and then I kind of just stopped thinking about her. And with what you told me, I don't think that she was the one who did all those things. If she really could, then why wouldn't she just make us forget she did anything? Or just make her kids exist again? That would make things a lot easier than just attacking everyone."

    That ruled out one way of approaching this. "So I don't think we can go to her, then. I'm out of options right now. I think I'll just go and get some sleep, and see what I can think of tomorrow." The stress of the last few days, as well as the whole trek to get here, had drained Scott of any strength he might have.

    "And I've got some homework I need to get done. Goodnight, Dad. I'll make sure I leave food for you before I go to school tomorrow."

 

* * *

 

    Breakfast that morning was hard for Cassie to get through. She wanted to stand up and shout _My dad is alive!_ to the whole world. But she was mindful of what she had heard the other day. Besides the fact that there was someone out there who had tried to kill off the Avengers, there was the way her memory had been changed. What if she found herself not remembering Dad being around anymore? How could she trust that anything she knew was real?

    She knew that her mother didn't approve of her leaving so much of her meal untouched, but she didn't try to force her to eat more. She did manage to discretely slip some of it into a napkin to leave for Dad before she headed off to school. Even if no one cared about how much she was eating, taking food away from the table was likely to raise a few eyebrows.

    Overall, Cassie didn't think of herself as being much of a social butterfly. Eli was her closest friend, and she had a few other people that she liked to hang around with. But being one of the more popular students wasn't something she wanted to be. Today, however, was one of the days she was eager to go and speak to her friends. She had to share her good news with someone, and she felt confident that at least her friends were going to believe her.

    Eli was standing by her locker when she arrived, and asked "So how'd things go with your mother last night?"

    "I had to say I was sorry and I would try to do better. I didn't really mean it, though."

    He rolled his eyes. "Parents. No one else could just walk out the door one day, come back years later, and expect to be welcomed with open arms."

    "The parent thing again? What did your mom do this time, Cass?" Kate Bishop was the same age as Eli, and also two years ahead of her in school. She hadn't really gotten to know her until she'd gone into sixth grade, three years ago. Kate had shared a bunch of classes with him and over time Cassie had gotten to know her as well. Both Eli and her were involved in martial arts classes, and Kate had also recently started to take up archery. She'd tried out martial arts at one point herself, but it just wasn't as fun for her as it was for her friends. What she liked best about Kate was how she never thought of her as being a kid despite the difference in their ages. Cassie was just another friend in her eyes.

    "The usual. She's trying to act like she cares, and I'm not buying it." Bursting at the seams, she couldn't wait any longer. "I've got some really big news to share. Let's go someplace else."

    Eli said "Has your Uncle Tony given in and decided to adopt you?"

    "No, but even if he did I wouldn't go." They had ducked into an unused classroom, and Cassie was able to share her secret. "Dad's alive."

    Both looked shocked. Kate went on to say "What happened?"

    "Last night, after I got sent to my room, I saw a bunch of ants spelling out my name. I went and got a magnifying glass and there he was! He can't get any bigger, so it took him a long time to get to me. But we got a chance to talk, and he's still in my room."

    A part of her hoped the next question wasn't going to come up, but Eli looked her face on and said "If he's so small and can't get bigger, how were you able to talk to him?"

    This was a part she wasn't sure if she should explain or not. Finally she figured that since the biggest part of this was out, it wouldn't make a difference if she said more. "I may have been taking some of my dad's stuff before this happened. I was going to put everything back, but then I had go move in with my mother and never got the chance."

    The sound of something hitting the ground caused all of them to turn their heads. "Oh, sorry. Didn't realize that there was anyone else here." Cassie knew who the new arrival was - Miles Morales. She only knew a little bit about him - that his family had moved here about a year ago, that he loved science and at one point had been talking about doing some jobs for some researcher. He was a year older than she was, and they'd spoken once or twice while in the cafeteria, but they were by no means close.

    Eli was the first one to say anything. "How much of that did you hear?"

    "The part about Cassie taking something of her dad's and planning on giving it back. Look, if you want I'll just go and leave. I won't say a word, I promise."

    Kate and Eli both looked at her. Cassie was of two minds. The best option would be to just tell Miles to go away, and leave him out of this mess. But there was another part of her that wanted to reach out to him, and thought that doing so would help out with whatever they had to do. "You can stay. I was just telling Kate and Eli about how Dad's alive and he told me that the story I got about what happened at the mansion wasn't true."

    "What wasn't true? I mean, obviously the fact that he didn't die would be a big one, but there had to be something else if he needed to tell you that."

    She opted not to give too many details to Miles at this time. "Just the reasons we were given for why everything happened couldn't be true. And when he told me that, I remembered some stuff that I hadn't thought of before. So I'm wondering if someone is messing with people's minds for whatever reason. I don't know why they would go after me, though."

    Eli asked another question. "Do you actually have some kind of plan for what you and your dad are going to do? Are you going to tell that new Avengers team that he's alive? Or are you worried that might be too dangerous?"

    "I did talk about doing that with Dad last night, but he had a couple of reasons why we shouldn't yet. I kind of agree with him in that running over to Uncle Tony right away isn't a good idea, but I want to try and do something. I just don't know what I can do."

    Kate inquired "Do you know of anyone else who might be able to help?"

    "Hank, but I'm not sure about going to see him. Jan got hurt pretty bad during the attack and still isn't completely well. And part of me is afraid that he won't listen to me. I know you guys believed me, but how likely is it that anyone's going to hear me say Dad's okay and not think I'm in denial or crazy?"

    Miles cleared his throat. "Um, I might have a bit of a solution." They looked over at him as he went on "Do you think that there might be someone on the Avengers who might listen to you and wouldn't be the first person you'd think about going to?"

    Cassie pondered the matter. "I'm not really familiar with all of them. Not like I could be. Even if I knew who might help me, I wouldn't know where to find them."

    "Don't worry about that. I know someone who can help with that. What period do you guys have your lunches?"

    Eli and Cassie said "Fifth," while Kate said "Seventh."

    "Good. I've got study fifth period, so I'm going to try and get the person I know to come with me to the cafeteria. This is just the kind of thing that would be up her alley."

    She was honestly curious now. "Is this someone I would know?"

    "Depends on how many students you know. If you're familiar with a lot of people, then you should recognize her. I don't think you've spent any major time with her, though."

    The lack of a name being given felt strange to Cassie, but she understood that Miles was probably trying to keep his friend safe. "How did you meet her?"

    "We've got an English class together. We started a conversation about her socks, and things grew from there."

     It actually sounded like the kind of story you wanted to hear. Two people get to know each other because of a pair of socks, and one of them might in turn be able to help a third person who only came in contact with them due to picking the wrong classroom to talk with friends in. What with the strangeness that had been going on in Cassie's life during the last few months, some kind of convoluted resolution seemed appropriate. "Then you can tell her I'll see her then." Before leaving, she had one more question for Miles. "Say, what where you doing in here anyway?"

    He looked away and said "I was coming to see if one of my teachers was in yet. I had a question about the most recent chapter we were doing in trig." Even if he hadn't seemed so uneasy, it wouldn't have been all that hard to realize he wasn't being truthful. Miles was one of the best students in the whole school when it came to math. It was unlikely that he would need to get help, but Cassie was wise enough to let the issue slide. Judging by the look on Eli's face, he was feeling the same way she was.

    The bell rang before anything else could be said. "Got to get going now. See you guys later." Kate was the first to leave, since she had the farthest to go to get to first period. Cassie and Eli walked together, since they had their first classes fairly close to one another.

    Before she walked in, Cassie asked "Do you know who Miles might be talking about when he says he knows someone who could help?"

    "I think so, based on who he might be in classes with. If it's the one I'm thinking of, then I'd trust his judgment on this. See you at lunch, Cass."

    In hindsight, she should have realized that her thoughts weren't going to be entirely focused on school that day before she walked in the door. Cassie doubted things would have been all that much different even if she hadn't been waiting for her lunch meeting, because she kept thinking about how Dad was doing. Maybe he had been able to find an answer to why he couldn't grow any larger and would be waiting for her when she got home. But that might create its own set of problems, such as what would happen if he was discovered there. She was lucky that only one of her classes required any major effort to be put forward that day - in science she had a test which she was pretty certain she had failed, or at least done worse than normal. Otherwise she settled for just sitting back and not saying anything.

    Eli intercepted her before she got to the cafeteria. "Ugh. This meeting's got me in knots. I did all the reading for history last night, but when my teacher asked me a question on the Russian Revolution I couldn't think of what the answer was. She wasn't all that happy, but at least she didn't tell me to pay more attention."

    "I really didn't do all that better. I'm sure I failed my science test. I didn't have to answer any questions so far, so that's a plus."

    When they walked inside, they could both see Miles sitting at one of the tables with a girl Cassie had seen maybe once or twice. Eli nodded when he saw her, so she guessed that it was the person he'd been thinking of.

    "You're here now. Good. This is Kamala Khan. She's possibly the best-informed person I know of about the Avengers."

    Kamala stood up and extended her hand to Cassie. "Don't worry, I promised Miles I wouldn't go too nuts if I actually got a chance to meet a real Avenger. So you're Cassie, and that's Eli. Nice to meet you." She sounded so open that both of them were put at ease hearing her speak. Her smile as she spoke helped ease things along as well. "So, can you give me a bit of an update on what's going on?"

    Cassie told her the story, only leaving out the part about Wanda being blamed. She felt guilty for having ever accepted that story, even though she doubted she could have done anything else.

    She kept nodding as she listened to the whole account. "So do you have any idea of who might be doing this? I know a lot of the Avengers' enemies, but I can't think of anyone who could do all that. This person sounds so powerful that I would be afraid to go up against them even if I had all the heroes in the city on my side."

    "I've thought about it, and what I really want to do is to find someone who might be able to listen to us. Hank and Jan are out not only because they'd be the first ones anyone thought of, but Jan was hurt during that last attack. I don't know if she's healthy yet, and she'd certainly want to help us no matter what."

    "Well, you're in luck. Not only do I know almost all of the people who have been Avengers at some point, I can also tell you where they were last spotted. And guess what? There's someone who's in town that just might fit the bill. He doesn't have any connection to Ant - to your dad, so I bet if you could go and find him he might help us out." Kamala managed to sound both excited and empathetic, a rather difficult combination to pull off.

    "Who would that be?"

    "Wonder Man. On one of the sites I visit, people were saying he was hanging around in the area. They didn't know why, but if you'd like I could go and see if I could track him down."

    "That sounds mostly reasonable, but I'm not sure you should go alone. Dad and I can come along with you if you somehow can get a meeting put together."

    Miles then said, "If anyone could do that it would be Kamala. She's the biggest Avengers fangirl I've ever met. And she's also one of the most stubborn people I know, so she won't give up easily."

    She laughed. "I hate to admit it, but Miles is right. I do have a streak of stubbornness in me. Do you think that we could arrange a time to meet?"

    Remembering the trouble last night, Cassie said "I don't know about that. I got into a fight with my mother last night, and I'm not sure she would let me go out with a friend anytime soon."

    "Hmm. That is a problem." She pondered the issue for a few moments. "Oh! I think I might have an idea. Why don't you tell your mom that you're coming to see me so that we can study for a test we have. She's a bit more likely to let you go if she thinks it's all about school instead of fun. I don't like lying to your mom, but if you really don't think she's going to let you go that might be your only option."

    In spite of her feelings towards her mother, Cassie didn't like the idea of lying to her much better than Kamala did. "I'll try and see how she's feeling before I ask her anything. For all I know, she's going to be fine with letting me go. Tell me when you think we should go, and I'll see how my mother feels then."

    "That should work out okay. I promise I won't go too crazy if we meet him."

    Everyone laughed, and began to eat.

 


	9. Forgeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Simon gathers information, but a chance meeting sets everything back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part of this chapter is an attempt to reconcile how Simon was portrayed prior to the whole mess of Vision getting destroyed and how he's been treated afterwards, and I hope I did it justice. The solution I found works fairly well with the storyline I have going here, so I just feel things went a little further.

    Simon felt uncomfortable as he knocked on the door of one Ramona Kelt. She was the first person he'd been able to get in touch with that had known Wanda in the past, even though it had been some time since they'd seen each other. Ramona had been the first person that she and Vision had entrusted the care of their sons to, but after a few months she'd left the job. During the whole fiasco out on the West Coast, Simon had heard that the reason for her leaving was not being able to see the children. And that had made sense to him then, but now he realized that he both hadn't heard about that at the time and had never actually spoken to the woman in question. Maybe the story was true, maybe it wasn't - but there was no way of knowing the answer until he spoke with her.

    Ramona opened the door with a smile. "Hi. You would be Mr. Williams? I sure was surprised to hear from you. The last time I had any contact with any of you was when I got that letter from Wanda. I guess I could see why she might not feel good about seeing me, though. Come on, have a seat."

    Simon sat down and began to share what he could. "I know it probably seems odd that I called you yesterday, but I need to ask you a few questions about the time you spent working for Wanda and Vision."

    She didn't look to be too willing to say anything. "And may I ask why you want to know that?"

    He phrased it the best way he could. "You heard about how the Avengers mansion was attacked recently, correct? We've gotten some information that's led us to believe that there might be something in the past that led up to it, and Wanda's one of the people we're focusing on. I have good reason to believe she may be in danger, so any help you can give would be much appreciated."

    Ramona relaxed a bit. "All right then. You can ask your questions."

    "What was it like when you started working for her?"

    "Well, I had earlier had to drop out of school because I didn't have enough money to go back the next semester. I heard about a child-care position that was available and I went to go see what it was all about. Vision and Wanda put me through a lot of questioning, mainly because they knew that their status in life was going to put Billy and Tommy at a higher risk of harm. And I needed to be checked out in terms of that, as well as being aware of how dangerous things might become for me."

    "Since you took the job, I'm guessing you passed. How were things at first?"

    She laughed a little. "On my first day, Vision handed me a long list detailing everything that the boys might need, down to the exact temperature their bottles needed to be. He was so anxious about leaving his children that Wanda had to tell him that they were going to grow up with a complex if they didn't get left with someone else occasionally. That didn't help me all that much either, because I spent most of the first day worrying I was going to do something wrong. But we both relaxed over time."

    "What were Billy and Tommy like?" Simon still wished he'd gotten to spend more time with his nephews before they were gone, but living on the other side of the country made that a challenge. And things had so rapidly gone south when they moved to California that he still hadn't gotten the chances he'd been wanting.

    That question gave Ramona a funny expression. "They were pretty much like babies. They were too young to really be bothered when their Mom and Dad left them, but were always happy to see them come back. Billy was a little more demanding of the two - he'd really let you know if he was hungry or needed to be changed or whatever. Sometimes when he would get going it would set Tommy off too, but not always. The only time things were hard was when they were both teething, and I could tell their mother hadn't been getting all that much sleep either when I saw her. I don't think Vision really needed to sleep, since he always seemed to be the one who would run to take care of them if they came back late. He'd tell Wanda to get some rest and let him do whatever needed to be done. I always admired that about him."

    One of the biggest issues he had was the issue of how both children had come about. If Wanda hadn't told Ramona anything, that wouldn't necessarily mean that she had created a family for herself out of whole cloth, but it would leave him wondering. But if she had said something, it would be another nail in the coffin for the idea that she was mad. "I know this may sound odd, but did you ever learn about how both of them came to have their children?"

    It may have been necessary, but it clearly wasn't a good thing to say. In a cold voice, Ramona asked "Do you always go and ask questions to people with children about how they came about, or is that just limited to those you don't think of as having normal families?"

    Simon knew from that point he had to tell more of the truth. "Look, I can understand why you feel like that. But let me explain. I'm not asking these questions because I'm curious. The events that happened recently are being blamed on Wanda, and in order for her name to be cleared I need to get more information about her children. I can't tell you much more than that, but I really do need to get these questions answered."

    She looked shocked when he said that people were blaming Wanda, but it still took a while before she answered. "Up until a month after I started working for them I had just assumed that there was some kind of donor involved. Not that it mattered, but you can understand why I thought there was no way a robot could have children with a human. It wasn't until I met Holly that I learned a little about how all this came about."

    That was a name he didn't know. "Who's Holly?"

    "Holly LaDonna. She used to babysit a few times for them, and she was Wanda's student in some magical study. I never knew that there was such a thing as real magic in the world. Anyway, I met her one day when I was leaving, and she was surprised I didn't know about magic, given that I was taking care of Tommy and Billy. So the next time I came over, I asked Vision about it, and he confirmed what she said. He asked that I not let it slip because he didn't want his sons to be marked off as being different than any other baby was. And I could guess that it also might lead to the wrong kinds of people trying to study them, so you'd better believe that I kept my mouth shut."

    Simon was now almost certain that the story they had all heard was wrong. He might have had a few lingering doubts if Ramona had said it was Wanda who told her this, but no one was claiming Vision was insane. And of course he wasn't there to say anything right now. He was going to get in touch with Philip and Magdalene as soon as he left here. "Did anything unusual happen while you were on the job?"

    "Well, the only thing I can think of was that one time out in the yard. It was a nice day, so I took the kids outside for a while. I still can't think of what made me turn my eyes away, but when I looked over in their direction I couldn't see them anymore. I was panicking, yelling their names out and trying to think of where you could lose two babies who weren't even walking yet. I was this close to calling for help when the mailman came. And he said hi to all of us. He could see them no problem, and then so could I. Scared the hell out of me, though."

    "Did you say anything afterwards?"

    "Of course! I was half-thinking I was losing my mind or something. I talked with Wanda later that day, and she said that while she'd never seen anything like that happen she would keep a close eye on them for the next few days. I still don't know what happened then."

    There was one question he felt would seal the deal. "Why was it you left the job?"

    "It was getting close to the beginning of another semester of school, and by now I had the money to go back. So I gave my notice, and they wished me well. When I heard about what happened in California, at least part of it, I sent a sympathy card to Wanda. She wrote me back a letter later on, saying she appreciated it and was sorry for not getting back to me sooner."

    Simon had heard that Ramona had been fired because she had multiple times where she could not see the children. Either she was being dishonest, or someone had made them all believe a big lie. "Was that the last contact you ever had with Wanda?"

    "Yes. I didn't know if it would be proper to go and see her after she came back out here. The memories might hurt too much. Besides, I wasn't a close friend or anything. I do think she's seen Holly a few times, though."

    "Do you know where Holly is living now, or how I could get in touch with her?"

    "I think I can pull up her number. Let me check." Ramona scrolled through her phone, and grabbed a piece of paper. "Here you are. Make sure to call before dropping in, or you'll really end up freaking her out."

    "I promise I will. Thank you for your time, Ramona."

    She said "No problem." Simon wasn't sure that she was all that happy with him, but he'd gotten some useful information out of their talk.

    He walked over to a spot where it wasn't likely he would be overheard, and called the number he'd been given by the other heroes. Philip answered with a "Hello?"

    "Yeah, it's Simon. I just got finished speaking with Ramona Kelt, someone who looked after my nephews for a while. She say that she never had any issues with the kids, and left because she wanted to go back to school. Nothing about not being able to see them, except once, but apparently it was only her that couldn't do that. So I don't think right now we can say that it was Wanda, because the evidence for her involvement is getting smaller and smaller. How have you been doing?"

    "Okay, I think. So far Magdalene and I have been looking around for any kind of unusual criminal activity that might give us a hint as to who's really doing this. But there doesn't look to be anything major that's out of place. We tried once to see if we could help out the new team with something, but they'd wrapped everything up before we got there. Have you gotten any other names?"

    "Yes, Holly LaDonna. She was a student of Wanda's, and I do remember having spoken to her on occasion. I got her phone number, so I'm planning on calling her as soon as we're done speaking."

    Philip sounded hopeful. "Well, I'm going to let you go then. Let me or Magdalene know as soon as you have anything."

    "I will. Talk to you later."

    Simon took a few deep breaths before making his next call. A young woman's voice answered with "Hello?"

    "Hi, is this Holly?"

    "Yeah, that's me. Who are you?" He couldn't blame her for being wary of an unknown man calling her out of the blue.

    "My name is Simon Williams. I'm calling because you have some kind of connection with Wanda Maximoff."

    Her voice became very excited. "Oh, God. Wanda? I haven't talked with her in ages, save for a few months ago when we bumped into each other. I told her a bit about how I'm in college now and still try to keep up with my studies, but we really didn't have a chance to talk. How is she? Is something wrong?"

    This looked to be going better so far than the last time. "In a way. It's kind of hard to explain over the phone. Is there a time when I can get together with you in person?"

    "Tomorrow at around ten. My first class will be done then, and there's a bagel place I like to go to. We can meet there. Let me tell you the address."

    She did so, and Simon said "Thank you. I'll see you then." He hoped that this time things would go better.

* * *

 

    Holly was as nervous as one would think while she sat waiting for Simon. She'd come into contact with him a few times years ago, but they'd barely spoken to each other then. And she knew perfectly well that he wasn't going to go and try to speak with her out of the blue - there had to be some reason for his call. Something had to be very wrong, and with the way he'd asked about Wanda it undoubtedly concerned her. Had she gone missing, and they were trying to see if someone knew where she might have gone?

    One thing that was bothering her was the recent attack on the Avengers mansion. After that had happened, there weren't any stories about them coming out for a while. When they did start making the news, the whole line-up of the team had changed. Wanda had been one of them before, but now she was gone. It didn't seem likely that it was a coincidence that Holly was now being asked to speak about her old teacher. What exactly the connection was, she didn't know.

    With his ever-present sunglasses, she could see Simon walk into the shop. He didn't spot her right away, so she began to wave her hand and said "Over here."

    "Thanks. Sorry for not recognizing you. It would have felt too weird to go and start looking up things about you so I could make sure I knew who you were. The last person I talked to, the one who gave me your name, we didn't end up hitting it off so well. I was trying to be certain I did things differently this time around."

    He sounded so guilty about whatever had happened before that she ended up saying "Don't worry about it. I had a feeling you had a pretty good reason for getting in touch with me after so long. Who did you talk to, by the way?"

    "Ramona Kelt." That hadn't been a name she thought she would hear. Ramona had taken care of Wanda and Vision's children years ago, and it didn't seem likely that she would be someone Wanda might turn to. Now Holly felt there had to be something really odd going on.

    "I wouldn't have expected her, but I guess you must have had a reason for talking with her. Now, can you please tell me what's going on here? I know that there has to be something, or you wouldn't be showing up here with questions about Wanda. You said earlier that in a way something was wrong. Please, let me know what it is."

    There was a large sigh. "It's all so complicated right now, but I'll do my best to explain it. Do you know how there was a big attack at the mansion a little while ago?" She indicated her agreement. "Well, we were told at one point that the person responsible for that attack was Wanda, and the reason for her doing so was due to another one of her teammates telling her about her children, which caused her to lose her mind. At the time, we all accepted that explanation as being the truth, but I realized later on that there were some major flaws with that. The whole idea behind this was that Wanda didn't remember having had children, but I can now think of multiple occasions when she was talking about them or brought them up. So now I'm trying to talk to people who aren't on the team, and see if they can tell me anything different. I really am afraid now that someone is manipulating us, and they have some kind of agenda in all this. But what that is I can't be sure."

    Suddenly a whole lot of what was happening began to make sense. Holly knew that Wanda had a breakdown following the loss of the twins and Vision losing himself, but it had never occurred to her that such a thing could happen again. She'd only taken an intro course in psychiatry, but based on what she'd learned people mostly didn't just lose their minds without showing any signs. Simon's words gave her an idea that he wasn't accepting it either. "So what is it you need from me?"

    "I'm wondering if you've spent any time with Wanda recently. Everyone has been saying that we must have missed the signs of her losing touch with reality, but what if there was nothing to see?"

    "We did meet a few months ago, but we only spoke for a little while. We talked about the old days, my studies, and about relationships." She felt a bit strange sharing more information than that. Wanda had spoken for the longest amount of time about how things were going with Vision, and that seemed rather personal, especially given how things had gone with Simon in the past. Holly had only heard bits and pieces about what had happened, but the part she had heard the most was that Simon had refused to help out with restoring his brother. The reasoning had never been completely explained, but she thought the biggest factor had been his feelings towards Wanda. With how they had later dated, that made sense. If that was the truth, then Holly didn't feel all that kindly towards him, knowing how badly her friend had hurt at the loss of her husband.

    "But as far as you could tell, nothing was out of the ordinary."

    "No. I didn't get to talk to her very much, since I had a class coming up, but I felt like there was no real difference in the way she behaved from how I had seen her before."

    Simon didn't reply, just shook his head and scratched his chin. He seemed tired. Holly felt somewhat badly for him, but given his history she refrained from any expressions of sympathy.

    The next thing she said wasn't entirely a smart thing to do, but she knew that if she didn't say anything she would regret it. "You know, you did a really rotten thing to Wanda when you wouldn't help out Vision. It destroyed her, and if anybody's wondering why she might go crazy now they should be looking right at you."

    "I know." He at least sounded guilty.

    "Then why didn't you do anything to help?"

    Simon slowly began to speak. "I know this isn't going to sound good, but I really don't know. Later on it all was supposed to be about me wanting Wanda for myself, but at first that wasn't the reason. I mean, I knew that if things were different I might have tried to have some kind of relationship with her, but if you're taken then you're off limits. I guess I was afraid of what might happen. The first time they copied my brain pattern, I ended up being in some kind of coma for a long time. What if I ended up some kind of vegetable afterwards? So I just kept giving off excuses until Mom called me to talk about it. She wasn't having any of that, and when she said that Vision would do the same for me without hesitation I knew I had to do it. I may have been afraid, but I needed to do the right thing."

    There was a strong ring of truth in his words, but Holly had to clear up one last thing. "But you didn't in the end. Why?"

    He looked down. "It's going to sound crazy, but up until a little while ago I completely forgot I'd had that conversation. I went to bed promising to call about helping the next day, but when I woke up it was like it never happened. I just went on the way I had before, and started to convince myself that maybe I was going to end up having a chance with Wanda. Of course, once I actually got that it didn't work out at all like I had planned, which should tell you something. In the end all I ended up doing was ruining my relationship with my brother, and make everyone think I'm an arrogant jerk who put his own feelings above what would be best for everyone else."

    Holly ended up reaching out to clasp his hand. The story she'd heard hadn't been what she'd expected, and it spoke of problems that had been lingering even before the events now blamed on Wanda. "What made you remember what really happened?"

    "Mom told me that Wanda couldn't have gone mad from hearing about her kids because she did remember them. Then I started to recall the times she'd brought them up in the past, and wondered how I hadn't thought about those times before. So Mom then mentioned the time we'd talked but said I had always denied ever having that conversation with her. You know, I didn't even remember denying it to her until then. Isn't that funny?"

    "Not really. It sounds like someone is trying to mess with your mind for whatever reason. Do you know who it might be?"

    "No. I don't really have any enemies who might want to cause me trouble,not the same way others do. So I'm drawing a blank on this one."

    "But what if it's not about you? What if it's  _Wanda_ that they want to get at, and you're just one of the people getting in the way?"

    "Then we have the same problem as if they want to get at me: as far as I know Wanda doesn't have any major enemies who might want to hurt her like that. That puts us back to square one."

    Holly didn't have any major ideas to draw on at this point. There was the chance that there were other things that had been manipulated in the minds of the Avengers in order to frame Wanda, but since she hadn't spoken to any of them that didn't help much. "I'm completely out of ideas at this point." At once, a major idea came to her. "Hey, do you know what they've done with Wanda? They've got to be keeping her somewhere, especially if they think that she's gone mad and is a danger to herself and others."

    "I wish I could say I knew that. But I wanted to go and see her myself, and was told that she's escaped, and no one knows where she is right now."

    "And nobody's gone and tried to look for her?"

    "I know they went and checked Pietro out to see if he might be hiding her. But no luck then, and I have no idea where else she might go."

    For Holly the idea that Wanda might think of her as a potential source of help crossed her mind. But she didn't think that would happen anytime soon. She was a person who existed on the edges of what compromised Wanda's social circle. It was unlikely that she would be one of the first people she would contact. In fact, there was a chance that she hadn't sought out anyone else at all. There were two people Holly would think of as being first on the list for her: her brother and Vision. Simon hadn't mentioned looking for her via Vision, so something had to be going on there. "Have they gone and looked to see if she might be with Vision somewhere?"

    "That's not possible, because he was killed during the attack, along with Ant-Man. He's in pieces inside a warehouse owned by Stark Industries somewhere. Wanda wouldn't know what to do even if she were able to get her hands on the parts, so she can't be with him. Otherwise I would have looked there first."

    That just ended up raising another question. "If Vision was one of the ones who was killed, then why would anyone blame Wanda? I'm pretty sure that even if she went completely off her rocker then he would be the last person she would ever think about harming."

    "We were told she had done it by a reliable source. I don't think that he's the one who's doing all this, because in that case we'd have the same problems as we do here: there's no reason for it, and it would be out of character for him to cause such harm." She had a good idea of who that reliable source might be, and if she was correct in her assumptions then she had to agree with Simon. He wasn't likely to be the person they were looking for. In order to place the blame on him, you had to make the same kind of leaps you did to blame Wanda for everything.

    She asked "What was it that he said, exactly?"

    Simon glanced away. "I can't remember. Something about magic and chaos, but if I try to think about what was said I can't focus properly. It's hard to even talk about it now." His eyes kept darting about as he spoke.

    Holly now had to wonder how deep this all went. If for whatever reason the person who was doing all this wasn't just trying to target Wanda and instead had some other agenda, then anyone could be next. What if Simon was the next person they decided to target? Could she be in danger by just speaking about this? "Do you think that whoever is doing this has something against Wanda, or that they have something else in mind?"

    "My guess would be that the person who is doing this has something against the Avengers in particular. If they were trying to just cause trouble, then I would think they would go for a broader range of attack. And they didn't just attack us - they tried to discredit Tony in front of a large crowd. That to me speaks of some kind of personal motive. But while the team has made quite a few enemies over the years, I don't know of anyone who is capable of doing everything that has happened to us recently. And if this is someone we don't know about, then how did they end up with such a big grudge against the team?"

    "Are you looking into this alone, or is anyone helping you out?"

    "I've been speaking with people, yes. But I'd rather not say who they are. Keeps the danger down."

    It made sense. "It's getting to be time for one of my classes, so I'd better get going. Is there anything else I can do to help?"

    "Just let Wanda know she has allies out there if she comes into contact with you for some reason. That's all."

    Holly nodded, and got up. She hadn't known what to think of Simon Williams prior to their meeting, and right now she still could only describe her feelings as being ambivalent. She couldn't say that she really disliked him anymore, but she also was ready to say that she liked him yet. "I hope that everything can work out for you."

    "If everything does end up going well, then I'm going to try to make things better. Thank you for your time, Holly."

* * *

 

    The Sentry was now looking back at another successful mission. He hadn't done so much that no one else could take any credit for how things turned out, but he also had made certain to be an important part of each moment. By now there was sure to be people looking over at them and seeing who he was, and wanting to see more. Once he'd gotten enough of that, he could move on to the next stage of the plan. He'd found the perfect team to set everything into motion, and knew what had to be done. At first he'd believed that a much greater loss of life would have to occur to make things right, but now he was confident that everything could go forward with only a few who would have to be sacrificed.

    "Thanks for stopping and helping us out, Wonder Man. It really made a difference."

    The only major wrinkle that had come about today was the arrival of Simon Williams during their fight. He hadn't planned for something like that happening, but he hadn't said very much to him, so the Sentry was fairly sure he had no idea of what was going on.

    Seeing Simon reminded him of the very first time he had used his powers to influence people. After the discovery of what he could do, he'd limited himself to changing things rather than people. It had felt too wrong to try and do so, until he'd gotten the words that spelled his doom. Then he had no choice - he had to be more proactive. And the first place he had gone looking was out on the West Coast. The events that were unfolding at the time made the Sentry's plans much easier to carry out.

    He still shook his head at how simple it had been to make the man change. All he had needed was to give a few pushes to the area of Simon's mind that thought about what chances he might have with the Scarlet Witch. The first nudge hadn't caused him to change all that much, but it did make the thoughts occupy more of a space in his mind. A little more pushing, and soon he was abandoning his brother in favor of his wife. In doing so, the fear that had made him reluctant at first had helped in setting Simon's mind against agreeing to use his brain patterns to help restore Vision. It had been a bit surprising that none of his teammates at the time had questioned the way he was acting. Perhaps the old Simon would have thought first for his own happiness over the well-being of another, but the man he was now wouldn't act like that. From there, all it had taken was a simple summoning, and a little bit of work on one who could perform the deed he needed done, and then the only threat to his plans was taken out.

    Once again, he tried to touch the mind of Wanda Maximoff. As before, he had no luck doing so. The Sentry suspected that she was doing something to block him, as his efforts had born at least some fruit during the previous times he had tried it. Sometimes he wished that he had been the one responsible for her mental breakdown after all the tragedy that had come from his manipulation, because if he had been able to do that once he could do it again. The fear that she would find someone other than Firebird who would listen to her was ever present. While even if Wanda could tell someone she was innocent it wouldn't mean he would be exposed, it would put his goals significantly farther behind. Being able to make her go mad for real would cut off that chance. Of course, he could just try to make whoever she spoke with lose their mind instead, but that would take too much time. He thought,  _I must find a way to stop her._

    Lately he'd also been feeling a threat building somewhere close by. As of yet he hadn't been able to isolate the threat, and was considering enhancing his danger sense so that he could more easily pinpoint risks. The first time the Sentry had tried doing such a thing it had not turned out well, because his sense had been so potent that he was seeing even vague possibilities of danger in the smallest things. Toning it down to just getting feelings of trouble had been the only thing he could do since there didn't look to be any way to have the ability at a more moderate level - it was a choice between vague feelings or constant impending doom. Since then, he'd gotten better at using his powers, so maybe he could change things this time around. Focusing on the feeling right now only served to give him a few scattered images of a woman walking around with three children, and he wasn't sure if that was just where the danger might arrive or if it was the source.

    "Say, what does bring you here, anyway?" The issue of the potential threat had preoccupied the Sentry so much he nearly missed Luke speaking with Simon.

    "I was just checking up with some people around here, and heard you guys were in a little trouble. Glad I could come and help out." He sounded far too casual for just happening to walk into trouble like that. And there was something in his words that seemed like a lie.

    At least if he gave himself this it wouldn't be noticed by anyone. He had made a mistake at one point by granting himself a new power that was useful during an encounter, but Iron Man had also taken note of it and asked where it had come from. He'd covered as best as he could, but given that Tony was already somewhat skeptical about his presence he knew that he would not be doing something like that again. Knowing if someone was lying around him wasn't going to do much, since it would be invisible to others. The Sentry now wished he'd gotten it years ago, what with how helpful it would be.

    It was just as he thought. Wonder Man was lying. He was being honest about how he happened to hear about their most recent fight, but he hadn't been catching up with anyone he knew. He was looking for information, information on Wanda. The names that were running through his head - Holly LaDonna and Ramona Kelt - were ones that were connected to the Scarlet Witch. Why was he speaking to them? Neither one had any sort of connection to him, so just wanting to see how they were doing didn't cut it.

    He probed deeper, and saw that Simon no longer believed the story they had been given about why the events at the mansion occurred. His mother had been the one to raise doubts in his mind, and if he was allowed to continue along this path there was a good chance he would figure out that this wasn't the only time he'd been affected like this. The Sentry wished he had made it so that everyone would clearly recall the words he had made them hear from Doctor Strange, but it was too late now. The Avengers had all heard something a little different, and if they could remember it they might start comparing what was said at some point.

    Trying to keep his gaze away from Simon, the Sentry planned to take action later that night. Right now he settled for making him leave without sitting down to chat with the new team. Simon would have done so if left to his own devices, and everyone would have enjoyed his company.

    Everyone but him.

    And as he thought things over, it was a good thing Wonder Man had come to help them today. By having him leave, it created further divisions among Avengers past and present, and that left gaps that he could fill. Unity worked against him, and if anyone who had also been a past member tried to come and help he would make certain that they left on a sour note.

    "Enjoy yourself, Simon Williams. You aren't going to be looking into things much longer."

* * *

 

    Simon came back to where he was staying with plans to make a phone call or two. He had to give an update for what he had learned from Holly, and he also wanted to speak with Mom. She'd probably be saying "I told you so," when he shared what he had learned.

    Before doing anything else, he sat down to eat some dinner. He enjoyed the meal, and did not realize with each bite that his plans were being interrupted. As he got done, his thoughts went to Wanda.

    Oh, it was terrible what had happened to her. Maybe if he'd broken the news about her having had children while they had been seeing each other none of this would have happened. Or if he had tried to stay in touch with her more. Then he might have noticed her losing touch with reality.

    His phone rang, but Simon decided to let it go to voicemail. Right now he didn't really feel like talking to anyone. He did look at the number, and shook his head when he couldn't recognize it. Probably some telemarketer or something.

    What he needed to be doing now was looking into flights back to California. Yes, it was nice being back home for a while, but he had his life out there to think of as well. "Been taking time away for too long already," he said to himself.

    Now knowing what he should do, Simon prepared to get some rest. What had kept him out here for so long anyway?

* * *

 

    Magdalene had made the choice to call Simon when he didn't get back in touch with them by the end of the day. He'd told Philip the other day that he was going to be speaking with a former student of Wanda's who hopefully could give them some information. So by the time it was nearly midnight with no contact, she took matters into her own hands.

    The call going to voicemail worried her. Every time prior to this Simon had answered right away. They hadn't spoken all that often, but both parties knew that if they did seek out the other it was for a good reason. She left a brief message, saying "Simon, it's Magdalene. You haven't called us yet, and I'm getting a little worried. Please get in touch with us as soon as you can."

    Philip was standing next to her, and he asked "Why do you think he hasn't contacted us yet?"

    "I don't know. Maybe it has something to do with him having joined up with that new group of Avengers today. He could just be too tired to do very much. If we don't hear anything by tomorrow, then we should start worrying."

    Her words were optimistic, but in her heart Magdalene knew that something was very wrong. She vowed to give Simon a few days, and then she would try and see if there was something else she could do. Right now all that was in her power was the ability to wait, and that was what the both of them would have to do.

 


	10. A New Dilemma

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Tony finds something that may explain what happened with Wanda, he goes to find help. But what he ends up finding only means more questions.

    Tony was only idly flipping through the book when he finally came across something that might explain everything that was going on. While most everyone else seemed to just want to forget what had happened with Wanda, he still wanted answers. There had to be something else other than madness that was behind this. Maybe it was a foolish hope, but he could recall having been forced to do things that he did not want to do far too often to not hold out some hope that Wanda might have been under some malign influence.

    Since one of the things that he could remember being said was that there had been a problem with magic, Tony had gone and gotten a few books that related to magical mind control. Magic was one of those things he never felt comfortable with. He guessed it was because his background was in science and engineering, and both of those things relied on experimentation and trial and error. Based on what he had seen of magic in action, all you needed to do was to find the right spell and use it. In a way it had some kind of experimental aspect to it, but magic still worked in a way that was unfamiliar to him. He wasn't like a few of the others he knew who even denied the existence of magical forces, but if it was possible Tony opted to avoid it.

    His reluctance to deal with magic was one of the reasons his research was going so slowly. The other reasons all had to do with the large pile of things that were on his plate, ranging from business matters to all the tasks associated with being an Avenger. Time to himself was a very rare thing, and Tony normally liked to go fool around with whatever it was he was working on if he had a moment or two. At least he was able to use some of the time he should have been sleeping to look at the books, although so far nothing had come up of note. All of the ways one's mind could be taken over seemed to leave some trace of their presence in wake of the takeover, and nothing he could remember of Wanda seemed all that different.

    But this was something a bit different. Near the end of the book, there was a brief discussion of other ways one's personality could be altered. It was emphasized that most of these methods were fairly uncommon, and most spell-casters would either opt for direct mind-control or just making it impossible for the person they wished to control to do anything else. There was a section on a concept known as inversion, and that sounded interesting.

_Inversion, while uncommon, is one of the most potent forces that can be used to alter another person. The amount of power required to complete the process is unlikely to be able to be wielded by any but the most powerful users of magic. Additionally, those who walk the path of Light are not typically able to use that power or they run the risk of losing their abilities altogether._

_If one is successfully inverted, they will gradually transition into the opposite of whatever their essential nature is. A person who prides themselves on being scrupulously honest will become deceitful, and will hold little value for the truth. Someone who is very trusting will become paranoid of all around them. The majority of the time only a few features will be changed, but in rare cases the affected individual will become a mirror image of what they once were. In these cases it will take a great deal to revert the subject back, and normally requires.._

    Tony could feel the light going off in his head. This had to be it. All the questions about how Wanda had been able to lose her mind without anyone noticing could be answered by the idea of inversion. If that was true, then she hadn't really lost her mind at all. What would have happened instead would be a caring, mentally healthy woman being flipped into an angry, unstable person who lashed out at all those around her. It would also explain why one of the first to be harmed was Vision. If Wanda had really been inverted, then all her feelings of love would have been twisted into either hate or indifference. (He'd heard of both feelings representing the opposite of love, and had never been able to think of which one was more suited to the role.)

    The only problem he could see with this explanation was the role that her children played in all this. True, if Wanda had been flipped around Jan's remark would the kind of thing that would trigger a desire for revenge rather than immense sadness, but if she hadn't remembered being a mother before, wouldn't she have full awareness on being inverted? Well, there was the chance that your memories didn't get affected by the process, although since the whole issue meant so much to Wanda he felt like there had to be something arising from it.

    Tony scratched his head, trying to think of what to do next. He had no idea of how the idea that Wanda had been modified in some way would be accepted. Steve hadn't looked for any other explanation, and he was afraid of being dismissed. The others on the team probably weren't going to listen to him either. When it came down to any manner of dispute between him and Steve, Captain America was the one that people went for. He came with too much baggage for people to trust him without reserve - there was the matter of his work with weapons in the past, his alcoholism, and all of the times he had been forced to lie and deceive people. If you had to choose between someone like him and a paragon of virtue, which one would you choose?

    Yet someone had to be told. He knew that Pietro would certainly listen to him, but he doubted that would make much of a difference. If Vision was around, then he would have been Tony's first choice, (just brushing on the topic made his head pound), but he wasn't. So who could he turn to?

    On some level he'd known who might be the best choice to speak with on an issue like this. But it wasn't easy to go talk about something so personal with someone you didn't know all that well. For Tony, pretty much anyone who'd been an Avenger, even for a very brief time, became part of his family. While there were some he felt even closer to than others, for the most part if he had gone to an Avenger he would have had no trouble with saying "I found something that might explain what happened with Wanda." Furthermore, he would feel that he was going to be listened to, even if whoever he spoke with didn't believe him. But the issue concerned magic, and Wanda herself was the only Avenger he could think of that had any magical training at all.

    He took a moment to try and figure out whether or not he should dress up a little before going out, but decided that wasn't really going to matter. He walked into the main room, where he could see Steve sitting on the couch. Tony told him "I'm going to be heading out for a little while. Call me if anything happens while I'm gone."

    "No problem. Anything I should know about?"

    "A little fact-finding mission. I'll let you know how things turned out when I get back."

    Steve nodded. "I hope it turns out well."

    "So do I."

    As Tony was walking out the door, he bumped into Sam. He said "Hi Tony. Haven't seen you in way too long."

    He smiled. "Too bad I've got plans, or I'd stick around and catch up with you. Hope you have a good night."

    "You too, Tony, you too."

* * *

 

    There were few places in New York where Tony felt ill at ease, but the Sanctum of Doctor Strange was definitely one of them. While part of the reason for this was his overall distrust of magic, another reason was just that he didn't really know the man all that well. In fact, he couldn't think of anyone that he would describe as being all that close to Stephen Strange. Maybe it was something about his demeanor, the way he carried himself as if he was removed from the world around him. Tony did know that some of that came from all the responsibilities that he carried. He'd once asked what kinds of things Doctor Strange spent his day doing and Wanda, who was the only one who even vaguely knew him, had said "Keeping the universe safe."

    "I haven't seen anything going on lately. Does he have any hobbies or anything?"

    She laughed. "If you did see signs of trouble, it would mean Stephen hadn't been successful. I know that he goes and does magical research whenever he can, but I'm not sure if that's a hobby or if it's just part of the job."

    Being a workaholic himself, Tony understood that. It was that small bit of a connection that led him to knock on the door. He'd thought about it, and and while he had no idea of how he was going to be received, he knew that what he had read needed to be shared with someone. If there was even the slightest chance that Wanda had not acted entirely of her own free will, then he needed to make certain that chance was looked over thoroughly.

    There wasn't any answer after he knocked for the first time. Tony almost lost his nerve when he realized that as of yet no one was coming, but he just tried again with slightly more force put into it. That ended up producing some results. The door opened, and Tony was greeted by Wong, Doctor Strange's servant.

    He had to say that if he didn't know Doctor Strange all that well, he knew Wong even less. The man had always seemed to be polite whenever they did meet, so he didn't fear a negative reaction when he asked "Is Doctor Strange here? There's something I need to talk to him about."

    He blinked and asked "What is it you need to talk about?"

    "Something about Wanda, and maybe the reason for why she did what she did."

    There was a bit of a pause. "I'll tell him you're here. Come on in." The words may have been open, but Wong's mannerisms indicated reluctance. In hindsight Tony would later on realize that was the first clue, but he was so focused on getting inside that nothing else registered for him.

    He took in his surroundings as he waited. At first it looked like you were in a normal home, but at some point you would see something that just wasn't quite right. Tony refrained from touching anything, suspecting that he would end up triggering some kind of disaster if he did.

    Wong returned, and said "My master is having his tea right now, but he is eager to speak with you." Calling the guy "master" was just one of those thing that made Tony suspect that even if he'd spent more time with Doctor Strange that he still wouldn't be all that close to him. There may have been a reason for the title, but it made him feel uncomfortable to hear.

    He hesitated a moment before entering the room that he was directed to. A large part of him felt like he was going to be quickly dismissed before he could lay out his theory. But Tony pushed himself forward, and said quickly "I hope I'm not interrupting anything here."

    "I was just having my tea for the night. Nothing more." As soon as he had entered the room (which he thought was a study judging by the desk and large amounts of books present), Doctor Strange had put something away inside the desk he was seated at, and cleared away some of the papers that had been lying on top. There was a teacup that he picked up and took a long sip from before asking "Wong said that you'd found out something relating to Wanda. What would that be?"

    There was an odd familiarity in the room that Tony couldn't quite identify. He ended up looking around for a moment, and then began to explain himself. "I'm sorry if I disturbed you, but I've been looking into what happened with Wanda, because I'm not sure that her just going mad explains what happened at the mansion. I was reading something in a book that talked about the concept of inversion, and how it could be used to change someone. And when I read about it, I started to think about how that would make the most sense. We were wondering how we missed her losing her mind, but what if she was turned inside out instead? If Wanda were flipped from being a mentally healthy person to one who lost touch with reality entirely, then it might explain why she was able to take off the way she did. Maybe she shook off control and realized what went on, and is off trying to find answers on her own. So what do you think?"

    His response was slow. Tony got the impression that he was feeling tired. Whether that was due to work or he was coming down with something, it almost seemed as if speaking was too much to handle right now. "I've considered other reasons behind Wanda's actions. I don't want to think that she's lost her reason, but unfortunately I can see no other explanation. In order for her to be inverted like that there would need to be an extremely powerful spell-caster involved, and I know of no such person in the area who might have been able to have contact with her. That kind of magic requires being up close to someone - it can't be done over a distance. And when I looked over what happened at the mansion, I couldn't see any signs of possession in Wanda, so that ruled out her being under another individual's command. The only solution that I could see was that spending so much time being exposed to chaos magic caused a fracturing of her soul. I am still uncertain of whether that can be fixed or not."

    Tony felt confused. Hadn't Doctor Strange said something about chaos magic not being real when he'd come to them? He wasn't sure of what had been said entirely, but that part was now sticking out in his memory. "What do you mean by exposure to chaos magic fracturing her soul?"

    "Wanda's been channeling that magic for years and years. Using chaos magic is a dangerous thing for most users of magic because of the nature of where it comes from. All the known sources are of a dark origin, and anyone who's exposed to that is going to find themselves being opened up to darkness. It could be considered a miracle that she was able to go on for so long without suffering harm. I don't believe that she's gone mad in the standard sense of the word - it's more like the powers behind her abilities have eroded her ability to reason. Perhaps if Wanda had studied more she might have avoided these affects. I should have done more to get her to come and study." The guilt in his voice made Tony want to do something to console him, but he had no idea of what that should be. "I look on what happened as being a fundamental instance of my failures in my position, and I hope that I can see what I might be able to do to remove some the harm to her soul. I must take responsibility for this - part of becoming a better person - need to stop being so shelfish..." The last bits were said in a near whisper, but it was the slight slurring that made Tony take notice.

    Wait,  _what?_ Had Doctor Strange said what he thought he had? He didn't have any problems with his speech as far as Tony knew, so this wasn't a just a thing that he did. He wondered if the man was ill, but then memories of his own past trickled through his mind. He'd come in and seen him putting something away, he'd taken that long drink from the teacup – Tony was starting to get a funny feeling about what was happening here. Now he started to look at him closer. Doctor Strange had a slightly glassy look in his eyes, and Tony knew that if he got closer he would be able to smell the familiar odor.

    Doctor Strange was  _drunk._

    He knew that coming out and saying that wasn't going to be a good idea, based on his own experiences. But he had to say something. The only words he could think to say were "I see. I'm sorry for wasting your time."

    "Don't be sorry. You aren't the one who failed. All on me, again." Watching him speak knowing what he knew now made his level of intoxication even more clear. How had Tony missed this?

    "I'll just be going now. And please don't think this was your fault." He knew that his words were going to be meaningless, but if he didn't say them Tony would start to feel even more guilty than before. He quickly made his way out the door, feeling so many different things that he wasn't sure how he was supposed to respond.

    Once he was finally outside, Tony took several deep breaths. "What did I just see?" he asked.

    His worst suspicion was that this was a sign of a serious problem. Some of the signs he had seen pointed in that direction – the hiding of the alcohol as soon as someone walked in, the difficulty in telling how badly he was affected – all of these things were signs from his own life. Had that been the familiarity that he had felt when he walked in the room?

    While over the years there had been a great deal of progress made in how people approached the concept of alcoholism, a still prevailing belief was that if you were an alcoholic you had to be out of control all of the time. If you had a problem, then clearly you must spend most of your time engaging in the use of the substance of your choice. But from Tony's own experiences and those of the people he met at AA, if you don't meet an alcoholic when they're drinking they're probably going to seem like everybody else. Sometimes he came across people who thought that he must have spent all his time getting drunk before he was sober, and the idea made him want to laugh. Yes, there had been far too many times when he'd gone about attending some event or giving some speech while under the influence, but he was normally able to keep his drinking limited to times when it wouldn't do all that much harm. Tinkering in his workshop was only done if he had just a drink or two, or better yet none at all. Tony knew that it wasn't a constant level of drinking that defined his problem. Instead, it was the need to drink and his inability to maintain control when he did drink. It had taken a while to be able to admit that to himself, but he knew that once he had watched his life end up going to pieces he had to accept the truth or die.

    The biggest reason that Tony still felt that maybe he was making a mountain out of a molehill was still that Doctor Strange had always come across as being a well-put together person whenever they had met. This might feel ridiculous given all that he knew about alcoholism, but he still wondered if he might be overreacting. After all, people drank all the time. You could even get drunk from time to time without having to worry that you were having an issue. Were his own issues causing him to project onto someone else? It was only the one time he'd seen the man drunk. For all he knew there was some sort of anniversary that he was celebrating. That could explain things.

    "Just because  _you_ can't control yourself doesn't mean that everyone else is the same way," Tony reminded himself. The only time he had been able to correctly diagnose someone with a drinking problem had been back when Carol had started to show signs of an alcohol addiction. Carol's case had been different than what he had seen tonight, though. He had seen her go from being able to keep a lid on her drinking to gradually having it affect her work and personal life. It wasn't just the result of seeing her get drunk once.

    But there were still red flags going off. For starters, Doctor Strange had seemed to be normal until his speech had slipped up. That showed that he either had a very high tolerance for alcohol or had experience in hiding the signs of being drunk. Once Tony had realized what he was seeing, it was fairly clear, but if it hadn't been for that one word he never would have guessed. And if the reason for not noticing anything was his skill in hiding it, then that was a big warning that one might have an issue with how much they were drinking. Also, he was getting drunk alone. Not that things would have been all that much better if he were surrounded by others, but when you were with other people it was normally easier to have more than you planned. Additionally, when you were alone no one could say anything about how much you were having.

    For Tony, there was one thing that kept sticking out in his mind: the way that he'd looked during their whole conversation. Doctor Strange's words and manner had been those of great despair, and that was one thing that he knew very well. For a lone time he had thought that the reason he had felt so miserable during his last episode of drinking was because of the fact that he was an alcoholic, but at one of his meetings recently someone had suggested that it worked the opposite way: he had gone off the wagon because of how depressed he was, not the other way around. Tony wasn't sure if he agreed with that. It felt like a way to deny responsibility for his drinking. Wasn't it important to acknowledge that he was the only one who had made the choice to drink? The person who had brought up the idea in the first place had said when he mentioned that "Yes, you may have made the choice, but if you don't try to understand why you were making that choice in the first place then how can you really be sure that drinking won't become an option for you again if things get bad?"

    All Tony had been able to say was "I'm never planning on drinking again." He could think of times in the past when he had been tempted, but was able to say that he had refrained from acting on his desire. He also knew that there were plenty of times when he felt miserable, regardless of what was going on in his life then. Mostly he tried not to think about those times, since they had been a part of his life for so long he would have been even more surprised to have those episodes go away. It was true that during his last spell of drinking that the only thing that made him feel good was getting drunk, but if you weren't planning on doing that ever again then it didn't matter, right?

    Yet the sight of Stephen Strange sitting at his desk lingered in Tony's mind. He had the same look in his eyes as Tony had when he sat down in a blizzard, no longer caring if he lived or died. By good luck he'd gotten out of that place, but a large part of him knew that it still existed somewhere within him. Was it possible Doctor Strange was doing something like he had done all those years ago? And if he was, did that mean he had a problem with drinking or just with his mood?

    Tony rubbed his temples, trying to get a hold of himself. Just like getting drunk sometimes, most people had days where they felt completely rotten and miserable, and that didn't mean they were experiencing that horrible choking blackness that he associated with his bad moments. He wished that he could think of what to do next. His lack of familiarity with Doctor Strange made things even harder to deal with, since he wasn't sure how to approach the issue without coming across as being noisy. And in the bottom of his heart, he believed that nothing serious was happening, that it was just a moment of weakness rather than a pattern of behavior.

    Then why did he feel so concerned?

    His worries were temporarily interrupted by the sound of his phone ringing. Tony went to answer it, glad for something that could take his mind off the problem. “Hello.”

    “Tony! Long time no see! Sorry I haven't been able to get back to you. How've you been?”

    “Hey, Rhodey.” If there was anyone who he could speak with, James Rhodes had to be at the very top of the list. Rhodey was the closest friend he had in the whole world. After the whole Wanda affair, the two of them had made plans to get together, but for a variety of reasons their plans had never taken off. “So I'm guessing you were finally able to get some time away?”

    “You better believe it. I'll be getting into town tomorrow, and then we can catch up on things. Hope nothing earth-shaking happens between then and now.”

    “So do I. Well, even if it does you could just pop on some armor and help us out.”

    The concern Tony was feeling must have slipped into his voice, because Rhodey's next question was “Tony, is something wrong? You sound like you're a million miles away.”

    He still wasn't sure if he should share his worries, given that Rhodey wasn't any closer to Doctor Strange than he was. At last he was able to come out with “I'm kind of wrestling with a major problem right now.”

    Rhodey's voice was alarmed. “Is this Avengers related, business, or something personal?”

    “I'm not sure how I can define it.” He made a choice. “Look, when you get in tomorrow I'll share as many details as I can. Right now I'm shuffling through everything that I know and trying to see what I should do next.”

    “Well, I'd like to talk about something team-related to you as well, so I'll be there first thing. Can't wait to catch up with you.”

    Tony was glad that he was at least going to be able to talk to someone about the trouble. He stood on the street for a few minutes, not knowing whether he wanted to go back or not. For a while he entertained the idea of going and catching up with things at his offices, but realized that with the way his mind was working he wouldn't be getting any work done in the first place. So he just made his way back to the tower, thinking,  _I've got to be overreacting. It's all going to turn out to be nothing._

* * *

 

    The biggest thing that Sam Wilson missed about being an active Avenger wasn't the missions. It was the general camaraderie. There was a real great feeling he got from just sitting around and hanging out with people who understood the type of life he had chosen. In his day job, he considered himself to be pretty close to the people he worked with, but none of them had taken up the life of a hero. So talking to them about that sort of thing didn't really go well. Redwing was a good listener, but he did have the small problem of not being able to sat anything in response. So it was the Avengers or really no one.

    Even with being off the team for now, Sam still came by to spend time with Steve. Steve and him had worked together for so long that they could instinctively tell what the other one might be feeling or about to do, and some of his favorite times had come about spending time just sitting around with Steve, doing nothing in particular.

    They'd made plans to just hang around tonight, not having anywhere to go and due to Sam's work and Steve's duties it had been over two weeks since they'd really gotten a chance to talk. It still blew his mind when he thought about everything that had happened since then. He wished that he'd spent more time with Wanda before the disaster had struck. Maybe he would have seen some sort of sign.

    Steve and him had sat around watching some mediocre movie for a while, making cracks about the plot the whole time. After that, they started to talk about how things had been going for the new team. Steve had told him “I'm so far feeling really impressed with this group. Of course, if anyone leaves for whatever reason I'm jumping over to the phone to get you here. I miss working with the Falcon. Sometimes I think the Sentry would like to partner up with me in the same way, but that isn't going to happen. He's good, and tries hard, but there are days when I think he's putting in a little too much effort. It's okay to be lower on the totem pole when it comes to being a hero. And really, there's only one partner for me. Even if something did happen, look how long it took me to get over what happened with Bucky.”

    Sam opined, “Well, you have said that he's new to this game. Could be that he just wants to be thought of as being useful. It can be pretty tough to get a leg up in this line of work. How many people do we know of that end up being forgotten about by the public? If you can get yourself tied to a bigger name in the field, then your chances of being remembered go up.”

    Steve had agreed with him, and then they started to talk about some of their past missions together. Sam was laughing hard about one that had gone rather badly – “So the next thing I know I'm standing in the tree, and can't figure out how to get down with coming into contact with that goo,” Steve had been saying – when another person walked in. It was Tony, and he did not seem to be happy.

    They'd run into each other as Sam was walking in, and Tony had seemed pretty much normal then. He hadn't said much about what it was he was going to be doing, but he could infer that whatever it had been had shaken him up fairly well. Not knowing if asking questions was appropriate, he said “Tony, is something wrong? You look like you're feeling pretty upset.”

    Tony sighed. He did not sit down, and put one of his hands on his forehead. “I'm trying to figure out the answer to a question right now.”

    “What question is that?” One of the key things he had learned over the years was that how you asked a question was just as important as what you said. If Sam had just said “What is it?”, or gave some other vague inquiry, then Tony would be more likely to not give an answer. He still might not share anything this way, but his gut told him that he wanted to talk about it.

    “About whether or not I think someone has a problem.”

    “Okay, so what kind of problem are you thinking about?”

    He looked down. “The kind of problem that I have.”

    Sam now understood a little more about why Tony was distressed. It was tough to make a determination about whether or not someone had a substance abuse problem even if you didn't have a history of it, even if you saw the person all the time. “So what is making you think that this person has a problem like yours?”

   "There were a few things I saw, like how they were trying to hide the fact they were drinking in the first place. And just overall I kind felt like I was watching myself in the past. I mean, I keep telling myself that people get drunk and feel bad sometimes, no matter who they are. But it just keeps nagging at me. I don't know what I should do or say, or if it should be anything at all."

    Sam stayed silent for a few moments, allowing Tony's words to fully sink in. "How well do you know this person?" Clearly he didn't want to give out a name or anything that might lead to the person being identified, but it could help if he gave out some type of clue.

    "Not all that well. So that's not really helping me out with deciding how I should go from here."

    "Is there anyone else who might be close to them you could speak with?"

    "I guess, but I know them even less than I know the person I'm worried about. And it's probably going to seem odd if I go and ask whether or not they think this person might have a drinking problem based on seeing them drunk once."

    "All right. Maybe you can't go and find someone who knows this person well. But I would like to say one thing: I think you should trust your instincts on this one. Yeah, not everybody who gets drunk has a problem. But if you're seeing something of yourself in someone else, then don't discount that. You very well might be on to something." Sam wasn't quite as certain that Tony was right to be worried as he was implying, but he felt that giving him a boost in his confidence wouldn't hurt. His alcoholism was an issue that was still tender, in spite of his maintaining sobriety for many years. If he was going so far as to try and get validation for his worries, Sam would bet that there was  _something_ to those concerns.

    Steve had been listening quietly while his two best friends were speaking to each other, either not wanting to interrupt or not feeling he could contribute anything. “Tony, I've known you for long enough to say that you have a good sense for when something's going wrong. Is this person someone who's on the team now?”

    “No, they aren't. If they were, I would be asking to have a meeting so we could see what to do about it.” He shook his head. “I'm going to my room, and going to try and sort through my thoughts some more. Thanks for listening, Sam.”

    With Tony gone, Steve was about to continue with his recounting, but was stopped by the arrival of yet another person. Unlike with Tony, he didn't seem glad to see him. “Sentry, what are you doing here?”

    The Sentry was wearing his costume, like he had been all the other times Sam had seen him. He wondered if he had a life outside of the Avengers. He knew nothing about him, not even his name. “Is there a problem with me dropping in?”

    “Well, there is the fact that you don't live here. I don't have a problem with you coming over, but please try to give notice of some kind. I've told you before, we'll call if we need you around.”

    He nodded, but didn't look all that happy. “Should I go, then?”

    Steve sighed. “It's late, so yes. I've worked hard to keep your privacy, so please try and respect ours.”

    For a moment Sam thought he might object, but then a pleased expression came over his face and he left without saying another word. After the Sentry had gone, all he could say was “That was weird.”

    “He's done this before. I don't mind him dropping in, but if he isn't going to live in the tower like the rest of us he needs to understand that he's a guest.” Steve looked like he was torn. “I hope that he starts to understand why we have our rules here. Maybe then he'll let me tell people who he is.”

    “So you know that?”

    “Yes, just me. He doesn't trust anyone else. Thinks that he'll be in danger otherwise. I wish I could convince him otherwise, but there are times I think he's right in a way.”

    There was silence, before Steve finally went back to telling his story. But Sam could tell that there was something in the air that was different. What and why were things that he didn't know.

* * *

 

    He'd been watching some TV at home when the Sentry became aware that Tony Stark was going to see Stephen Strange. By the time he knew about it, it was too late for him to stop the meeting. And out of all the people who he did not wish to see how one of his potential enemies had been laid low, Iron Man was by far the worst. He knew before even touching his mind that he had seen Doctor Strange as drunk as he tended to get during his tea.

    To make matters even worse, he had found that Tony did not always react well to having his mind poked through. More than anyone else on the team, he had found himself forced to keep his thoughts away from certain areas or to push other issues to the forefront of his mind. At times he wondered if it might just be easier to get him removed from the team, but he was too important to his future plans to push him aside. He needed a scapegoat, and Tony could fill that role perfectly. Just create two sides, but make sure one was the one everyone knew they needed to be on, and from there carry on. So right now he couldn't afford to lose him.

    The only option he could see was fairly drastic, but right now the Sentry knew that the time for small measures was over. While before he had just gone and taken away memories of a certain time or thing, this time he made sure that Tony Stark would wake up in the morning with no idea of what he had done the previous day. If he was really lucky, he might even start to wonder if his memory problems came about because he had been drinking the day before. That would cause him to become even more unstable, and make the division of the team even easier.

    For a while he wondered if it would be necessary to do something about the Falcon, but he brushed that idea aside. They hadn't spent very much time together, and he hadn't said anything that would lead him to suspect the Sentry was doing anything wrong. There was always a chance of something, but the best course of action in this case was to just wait and see. If Sam Wilson started to ask more questions about him, then he might be forced to take direct action. Right now things seemed to be okay.

    He left the tower with a smile on his face, having gone and reached out to the sleeping Tony's mind and making sure that he would not know what had gone on today. When that was done, he decided to take a look in at Doctor Strange.

    It was just as he suspected. The man was now passed out at his desk, having gone and started to go and just drink whiskey straight up instead of continuing to maintain the illusion that he was only having tea.

   With a snort at the man's weakness, the Sentry began his trek home.

 


	11. The Persistance of Memory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony attempts to unravel what happened the day before, and Vision focuses on the past.

    There were two things that came to Tony when he woke up. The first was that it was a bit past seven in the morning, which was later than he normally liked to get up. It wasn't uncommon for him to be up before six, and sometimes even sooner. So that level of slumber came as a bit of a shock to him. The second was the way his head felt. Unlike many of the times recently, it wasn't actually hurting, but had the feeling that it had been in the recent past. Tony almost wondered if he might be better off taking something for his head even without being in pain.

    He had to wonder if he was starting to develop migraines. He was just getting these headaches far too much lately. Tony tried to go over what he had done yesterday, to see if he could find something that might serve as a trigger point for them, but then something occurred to him that shook him to the soul.

    No matter what he did, he could not think of a single thing that had happened yesterday. It was even worse than the times he had blacked out from drinking, because on those occasions there was normally some flashes of memory over a lengthy period of time or he lost a fairly small amount of time. He'd never had a time when he couldn't recall an entire day. He could remember going to sleep, and then waking up this morning. The whole day that lay in between those two points was gone to him.

    Tony ended up going and turning on his computer, trying to see if there was anything he might be able to find there that would shed light on the situation. He did see a new Word file that was called "Reasons", but he couldn't think of why he might have made it or what the reasons of the title might be. Based on the time it had been saved, he'd written the thing at some point last night. But that was no help, since he still didn't know what might have motivated him to write it.

    By now Tony was tempted to go and find someone and beg them to tell him if he had for any reason had a drink yesterday. He didn't think that was likely, because in that case he was sure there would be a crowd of people at his door waiting to confront him as soon as he woke up. The fear still lingered in him even with that consolation. He opted to take his mind off that by seeing what was in the mysterious file.

    The contents didn't really make any sense. The first thing that he saw was “Doing it alone.” Huh? What on earth did that mean? The second part was “Could feel the sadness there. Like me.”

    Since looking through the thing clearly wasn't helping, Tony shut down and walked into the main room. Jarvis was there with May and asked “Is everything alright, sir? You don't seem like yourself this morning.”

    He wasn't sure what to say. Eventually he asked, “Would you by any chance know what I might have been doing yesterday?”

    “Well, you spent a lot of time reading some books. I remember you talked to the Sentry at one point. And you left the tower last evening, but didn't say where you were going.”

    None of that sounded out of the norm for him, and Tony could at least breath a sigh of relief about that. He doubted that his purpose in going out had been to get drunk, because in the past he'd typically preferred to stay home and do his drinking. Leaving in order to go off the wagon seemed a remote possibility. “Do you know what I was reading?”

    “Something that you said might help with what happened to Ms. Maximoff, but I wasn't able to see the exact title. Apologies.”

    “There's no need to be sorry, Jarvis. Thanks for helping out.” Now Tony had to wonder if Wanda had done this, but that didn't feel likely either. If he was trying to explain what happened, then she should be able to see that he wanted to help her out. Then again, if she were really so out of touch with reality then she might not see things that way. But Tony also thought that if she was so far gone to feel that way they would have found some trace of her somewhere. And why would she just limit herself to erasing his memory of one day? What might he have found that would cause such a reaction?

    Not having gotten any answers here, he decided to check his phone out. A quick glance over the numbers that had called him told Tony that at some point Rhodey had called him. He felt a little better knowing that, and hoped that he would hear from his friend soon. He tried once more to see if he could come up with any memories, but the only thing he was able to get was the idea that he had learned something that was related to Wanda. “So then what happened?” he asked to no one in particular. Had he just had something in his brain go offline and cause him to lose an entire day?

    Unable to come to a conclusion, Tony decided to just go off to his workshop for now. Maybe it would help him keep his mind off things.

* * *

 

    Just like with so many other things in the past, Tony was wrong about work making him feel better. There was the continuous sense that he was missing something important following him around, no matter what he tried to do. After a while, he stopped and sat there with his head in his hands.

    A part of him felt convinced that his memory lapse was connected to some of the other strange things he could think had happened recently. But whenever he tried to think of what those other things were, his head started to pound. Tony came to a realization as he rubbed his temples: his headaches went away the minute he stopped trying to think about certain things. Yet he couldn't even think of what else he had been trying to ponder prior to today.

    Now at least knowing his memory was affected, he wrote down on a nearby piece of paper  _When I try to think about things, I get the headaches. I think someone doesn't want me to know something. Could they have erased my memory of yesterday?_

    As the last word was finished, he heard a familiar voice saying “There you are. I was surprised that you didn't let me know you were coming here this morning. So what was the thing you mentioned yesterday?”

    He turned to see Rhodey standing in the doorway with a worried look on his face. “You have no idea how glad I am to see you. I knew we must have talked yesterday, but I couldn't remember what we talked about. I didn't even know you were coming into town until now.”

    His mouth opened and shut a few times. “Tony, what is going on? You sounded worried when we talked, and said that you were wrestling with a problem that was complicated. I didn't get more details than that. And now you're telling me you don't remember that?”

    “No. I can't remember anything from yesterday. I woke up, and the whole day was a blank in my mind. I've been trying to think of what I might have done ever since, but nothing is coming to mind other than I learned something related to Wanda. What that is, I have no idea.”

    "There's absolutely nothing that you can remember?"

    "No. I know that I was reading some things because Jarvis told me that, and that at some point I went out for some reason. And I talked to you, since you told me that. Other than that, nothing."

    Rhodey ended up sitting down himself, and seemed to be trying to take in what he was hearing. "I've never heard of something like this happening out of the blue, not without some kind of mental break or taking too much of something. I'm sure you weren't doing anything you shouldn't, and if you'd had some breakdown I don't think you would have stuck around here or would be this normal today. And I'm guessing you weren't going up against anyone yesterday, or someone would have mentioned it to you. Besides, there's always a record of that kind of thing."

    "I'd feel better if we had been in a fight. That would give me something to go on here. And I think just the unknown in this is what's scaring me the most." Admitting how frightened he was felt like an admission of guilt to Tony. He wasn't sure why he would feel that way, but it lingered within him as he spoke those words to his friend.

    "Was there anything else you noticed when you got up?"

    "My head was feeling a bit funny, and I made a new document on the computer last night. I looked it over, and it didn't make any sense to me. Maybe it was clearer last night, but today it was just some weird catch-all of sentences."

    Rhodey asked "Do you have a copy of it hanging around here?"

    “No, I didn't think about that before coming here.”

    “Well, let me tell you what I think. I'd like to take a look at what it was you thought was important enough to leave a record of it, and then maybe we can work at figuring this thing out. Maybe there's something I can see in what you wrote that'll given a clue you might not have noticed at first.”

    While Tony thought that it wasn't likely they would find some kind of clue there, it also wasn't going to hurt to take a look. “All right. Let's go back. I don't know how well this is going to go, but it's worth a shot to try.”

    He gave Tony a big grin, and said “Then let's go.”

* * *

 

    In the darkness, there was little that Vision could do. So he resorted to the only thing left to him, his memories.

_There is something magical about the first time you walk in the door with your child. Vision had spent time in the hospital with Billy and Tommy, but now they were all going home. He had felt slightly concerned when Doctor Strange had asked Wanda to stay at least forty-eight hours following the birth, but she had only laughed and said “Stephen just wants to make sure that we're all doing okay, darling. Since he couldn't get any readings on how Billy was doing while he was still in me, he wants to be absolutely sure that he's normal in every way.”_

_And while he wanted to return home as soon as possible, Vision understood the need for some caution. It was a good thing that neither he nor Wanda was currently active with the Avengers, because all too often a mission came out of the blue. They hadn't thought all that much about what they would do with the boys once they got back into the life of a hero. He turned to his wife and stated “I believe that there are some things that we should discuss later on.”_

    “ _Such as?”_

    “ _Who we would prefer to care for them in the event that we are both needed to undertake some mission for the Avengers. Even with currently being on reserve status, there is always the chance we will be needed in the future. It is highly unlikely that this will happen in the near future, but it's better to be prepared for when it does happen.”_

_Wanda nodded. “I know that your mother would be willing to look after the boys for a time, but I don't know if it's fair to rely on Martha for too long a period of time. I'll ask her when she comes over tomorrow.” While so many people were waiting to see the twins for the first time, both of them had agreed to wait until they had been home for the night. She shifted Tommy in her arms and said “Here we are. This is your home, boys.”_

_The reaction was immediate to the statement, as Billy began to cry just as his mother finished speaking. Vision suddenly felt helpless. He had no idea what was making his son so upset, and his sense of panic grew as Tommy joined in his brother's cries._

_Wanda, for her part, seemed at least at first to be as confused as he was. But she was able to recover faster than he did, and said “I think that they're feeling hungry. They didn't have much to eat before we left, and so far Billy's always been one for smaller meals.”_

_She sat down on the couch, and began to undo her shirt. He waited until Tommy was feeding before placing Billy in his mother's lap. His cries had eased up a bit since he had shifted himself towards a different vibrational frequency that more closely matched the one of his heartbeat. Vision made a note of this for the future._

_The only sound that filled the room was that of two infants consuming their meal. As Wanda had mentioned earlier, Billy was the first of the two to finish, despite having started later. He had sat down next to her, and said “Do you want to take him to their room now?”_

    “ _I think it will be better if we wait until Tommy's done. But you can hold him now.”_

_Each time one of his sons was placed in his arms, the feelings of love and pride that he had felt from the first time he saw them welled up again. He vowed to ask Mother if this was how all parents felt after their children were born, or if he was just being overly cautious._

_What he did know was save for the day of his wedding, this was the happiest he could ever remember being. His life felt more complete than it ever had before._

    “Why are you torturing yourself with the past?”

    The voice echoed all around him. Vision was uncertain if it was coming from his mind, or whether there was someone else in the darkness with him.

    He said nothing. He knew that nothing he said would matter.

    The voice went on to say “They are gone forever. Forget them. What point is there to remembering false children and a false marriage?”

    Vision forced himself not to react to the painful words. His family had been one of the greatest joys in his life. No, he was not going to forget his sons just because some strange voice was telling him to do so. He did wonder who was speaking, and what their purpose was.

    He chose to respond by going back to another moment.

_The day was marked off on the calendar for months. Billy and Tommy were rapidly approaching their first birthday, and right now Wanda was sitting and trying to assemble a guest list. "I know that Martha is going to be here, but do you know if Simon's going to be able to make it?"_

_"I believe that Simon will be there. He indicated as much to me when we last spoke. But I have no idea if something will come up in California before then. So I would wait a little while before penciling him in the list." He waited for a moment before asking "Do you know if anyone from your family is going to be there?" Pietro unfortunately would certainly not be there, but Vision did hope to see Crystal and Luna._

_"No. My father is not going to be invited, and I asked Crystal, but she said it wasn't possible." Wanda seemed so dismayed at not being able to share one of her happiest moments with the people she cared about that he went to her side and placed his arm around her._

_"Did Crystal say she had any other commitments, or did she feel that it would be too hard to come back here?" The whole situation that had come up since that Thanksgiving was a source of great conflict for him. On one hand, he was angry that Crystal had so foolishly broken her marriage vows. But he also knew that things had been going badly for multiple reasons, and that the quiet disapproval of her people played a role that most chose to ignore. He also was angry with Norm, especially since the man seemed to have little comprehension of the wrong he had done. When Vision had spoken with him to ask why he had chosen to pursue a relationship with a married woman, he had just said that he thought she might be unhappy. He still could not understand how he could have little feelings on the matter, and privately hoped that Crystal would not try to make things go any further. If she did, he doubted it would go well._

    “ _No, she just said that people didn't think it would be a good idea. I wish that she would just say who cares and do what she wants to do instead of what people think is best.” While Wanda did not come out and say that she was thinking that the reason her sister-in-law was not going to be there was because her people had asked her not to, but he knew what she was thinking. “Jan and Dane have both said they'll be here, and I know Ramona's going to want to come. She's going to be back in school before too long, and the party is going to be a nice farewell.” She jotted down something on paper and asked “Do you know what the menu should be?”_

    “ _I believe that hot dogs are a good choice. I think that everyone likes them, and they can be cut up into pieces small enough for the boys to eat.” He looked over at where his sons were playing. Tommy was busy pounding the keys of a toy piano, while Billy was pushing around a toy car. Neither paid much attention to what their parents were saying, but soon Billy crawled over to his brother and tried to push him out of the way. Tommy began to cry. “William, no.” He went over and picked up his crying son. “You must play nicely with your brother.”_

_Billy looked at him and put the wheel of the car in his mouth. Wanda chuckled and said “I keep telling you, Vizh, that they're a little too young for that kind of talk. Wait until they start talking before you try reasoning with them.”_

_He knew that his wife was right, but so often Vision felt compelled to make sure he did everything right for his children. Throughout Wanda's pregnancy, he had been terrified something would happen to her or to their child. This was going to be his only chance at parenthood, and what would have happened if things had gone wrong still sent a shudder through him._

    He pulled out of his memory, not wanting to think of that any longer. Something had happened in the end, and at times he felt worse for not being there for Wanda than he did about losing his sons. There were a few times when he thought that his lack of emotions for so long had been due to his not wanting to face what he would be feeling when they returned.

    At least the taunting voice had vanished once more, leaving Vision in the darkness. But as he tried to focus his mind, he heard a child's voice saying “Daddy, where are you?”

    This had to be some manner of trick. The voice reminded him of his sons, but there was no way they could be speaking to him now. “A trick,” he whispered. “It has to be a trick.”

    The child kept talking. “When you and Mommy were gone before, I could see you sometimes. But I can't see you anymore. Where did you go?”

    “You must be mistaken. I'm not your daddy.” Maybe this was a real child, even if Vision knew it was not his.

    “You are. You get sad when you hear me sometimes. I can't find you. Please come and see us again.”

    All he could say was “Who are you?”

    He heard the words “I'm,” before there was the sound of cursing.

    “It can't be. It can't be. I made sure the threat was gone! _I had everything under control!_ ”

    It was the same voice that had told him earlier to cease remembering the past. “What do you mean? Did you...” He was almost not able to process what he was hearing. Was the man trying to say that he had been responsible for what had happened to Billy and Tommy? From what he knew, they had been taken away by Master Pandemonium. The reasoning behind his doing so was that he felt that the boys were fragments of demon souls, souls he needed to collect. One of the strangest things that had happened in the aftermath was that everyone seemed to just accept that idea as being true, even himself. But even without emotions, the facts of how he had become a father were something that he knew very well. How come no one had remembered that?

    And why was it only now that Vision was thinking of this?

    “I did nothing. Forget such things. Why do you want to live in the past?” By now he was trying to think of who the voice might belong to. The voice belonged to a man, but he could not place it to anyone that he knew.

    “Perhaps because I cannot live in the present right now. Until someone comes for me, I must go where my mind takes me.”

    There was the sound of laughter. “Fool.”

    Vision waited for a response, but there was nothing but silence.

* * *

 

    Rhodey had read through the file that Tony had brought to his attention multiple times, and he was starting to have an idea about what the disjointed sentences might mean. “Okay. I think I'm beginning to see a bit of a pattern here.”

    Tony was as hopeful as it was possible for him to be as he said “So what would that be?”

    “Well, everything here seems to kind of reference things that you have done. And at one point you go on and say 'Don't know well enough to know if this is a pattern.' So what I'm thinking here is that you're feeling like someone has some issue that's similar to something that's happened to you.”

    “I see.” He wasn't sure that he did see, but at least he was listening. “So what issue do you think is going on here?”

    There were a few things that Rhodey could think of. He almost said "Well, how about your ability to pick out the most messed-up person in a crowd of thousands, and then proceed to actively seek out a relationship with said person?" It was one of the things that worried him the most about Tony. He'd seen what had happened to him in the past when he'd found the wrong person, and was always concerned that one day Tony would make one wrong decision that would have fatal consequences.

    What he did say was, "Most likely you're thinking of alcohol."

    He slumped a bit, not happy with hearing that. "I was afraid of something like that. But I can't think of anyone I know that might have that kind of problem." With a tilt of his head, he added "Unless you're hiding something from me."

    "If it was me you were worried about, then I don't think that you would have just written down some stuff - you'd go directly to me." He then said "Do you know if you've had any concerns prior to yesterday?"

    "If I did, then I wouldn't have any trouble knowing what this is about."

    “I'm going to guess that whoever you are worried about can't be someone you see all the time then. If they were, you'd have an idea of who might be having issues here. So that means we can rule out anyone who's on the team now.”

    Tony then added, “Well, I'm not really that close to the Sentry. And I do know we spoke at some point yesterday, since Jarvis told me that. Maybe it was him. But from what I've seen he doesn't seem to be the type. Not that there is a type, but he's never really done anything recreational since I first met him. Sometimes I wonder if he ever goes and does anything but be a hero. Sentry's never joined us for anything outside of missions, and the only one he seems to have any connection with is Steve.”

    Rhodey kept his own opinions about the Sentry to himself. At first he'd been surprised that someone who didn't have a presence in the community was being asked to join this new group of Avengers, but he trusted both Steve and Tony to make good judgments. It wasn't until Tony had told him about an incident with Jarvis that he started to question how much of a good idea bringing him aboard had been.

    According to Tony, Jarvis had just asked the newcomer what he would like to be called. Normally by now the habit was to just use one's first name alone with “Mr.” or “Ms.”, sometimes “Mrs.” For the Sentry, this was a problem, since he would not divulge his real name. This wouldn't have been a big deal to Rhodey if he had just asked to be referred to by his alias. Instead, his answer had been “If you will not simply call me Sentry, then I would prefer if you opted to not speak to me at all.”

    There had been a big outcry by all those present, and in the end the Sentry was told to stay away for a few days, as well as make a heart-felt apology to Jarvis. He had done both, but after hearing such a thing Rhodey wished they had removed him from the team permanently. That sort of disrespect bode ill for all in the long run. All Tony had said in his defense was “Steve likes him, and he's helped us out in a lot of ways.”

    He did remember something he had heard. “You know, I've heard that Simon's been out here for a while. He would fit the bill as someone you don't see all that much. And you do know him kind of well, so maybe it was him you were writing about.”

    Tony's expression grew thoughtful as he said “The only problem I can see with that is that while it's been some time since Simon and I have spent all that much time together, from what I do remember about him there was nothing to indicate that he had any kind of problem with alcohol. He'd have a drink from time to time, but it never really seemed to be a big deal to him.”

    “Well, up until Carol started to have real trouble would you have said she had a drinking problem? I know that most of the time alcoholics came seem pretty normal unless you're spending all your time with them. I mean, I know that there were times that I was with you when you'd had too much and I had no idea that was the case.”

    Rhodey hated to say anything like that, even if the point had to be made. Tony's struggles with alcoholism were well known by anyone who had heard of him, but most people didn't understand how much it still hurt him day in and day out. When he'd seen Carol going through so many of the same challenges that he had, Tony had been in a great deal of distress. He did not want her to go as far down as he had ended up falling, and kept trying to put himself out there as a source of help in order to prevent that. In the end, things had ended up working out, but it was still a sore point for him.

    Tony's next words were “I know that.” He stayed silent for a moment. “I did run into Simon during a fight a little while ago. Everyone wanted him to stick around for a bit, catch up with him. At first I thought he was going to accept, but then he said that he needed to go. I wondered what was going on there. But I have to say that I'm not really convinced he's the one I was talking about. There's just something in my head saying no.” He blinked. “That reminds me, there's another thing I noticed today.”

    “What kind of thing?”

    “I've been getting these headaches lately. They were worrying me enough that I had to go see a doctor and find out if anything is going wrong. Couldn't see anything, and in the end they were chalked up to stress. But this morning I made a connection. The times that I get the headaches are ones when I'm thinking about certain things, like what happened at the mansion. Now I'm starting to think that someone – or something – is making these headaches happen.”

    "Hmm." He had another idea. "Do you think that it might be Wanda doing this?"

    "No. It may be silly, but I've found myself wondering whether or not she was fully responsible for what happened. Even if she did lose her mind, who's to say that she wasn't being manipulated behind the scenes by someone else? A part of me even wondered if she might have been the reason I can't remember yesterday." Tony then added "What do you think?"

    He shook his head. "I only brought up the idea that Wanda may have done this because I thought you were trying to imply that. But the idea doesn't add up to me. If it were Wanda doing all this, I would expect to see you not remembering the things she did, not a complete bout of amnesia for a day. And about those headaches... I'm still against her being involved. That's something that shows me a level of planning that I doubt Wanda would be able to do if she's really so far gone."

    What Rhodey didn't say was that he was starting to wonder if Wanda was really the cause behind the recent incidents that had plagued them. At the time he hadn't thought all that much about the whole situation, and just paid attention to dealing with the aftermath. But one thing was lingering in his mind: since when was Wanda so unstable? After all, she'd been through a variety of horrible experiences before, but the only thing that had come close to breaking her was the loss of her entire family in a short period of time. And even during that time-frame her first reaction had been to shut down in grief, not to lash out at all those around her. He felt that if what had happened had been less extreme, then it would be easier to accept her behavior as the result of a mental breakdown. But just deciding to destroy everything around her, including her home and teammates? That didn't add up.

    There was a major reason why he felt that he could not voice his feelings to Tony. Since the first sign of trouble had been his appearing to be drunk, Rhodey very strongly suspected that any efforts at trying to defend Wanda would not be greeted all that well by his friend. He could definitely understand that, and made the vow that if for whatever reason Tony started to question the narrative he would say what he was really feeling.

    He buried his head in his hands. “I just don't know anymore. It feels like everything is falling apart at the seams. I keep feeling like Steve and I are growing more distant every day. We've always had disagreements, but now things are coming to head more and more often. And when we do end up arguing with each other, it feels like he won't stop to consider that I might have a point to what I say or do. It feels like I'm alone more and more, even with people around me. I never know if what ideas I'm having about the team are really a good idea or just what I feel is right.”

    “Well, what you feel is right can very easily be the right thing to do. Steve having an opinion on something doesn't make it correct. You've been a leader just as long as he has, and nobody's gone and said that you have been bad at doing so.”

    Tony gave a sad expression to Rhodey. “Yeah. But come on. When it comes down to it, who are people going to trust, Steve Rodgers or Tony Stark?”

    He had no answer to that, at least not one that would make things any better.

    The subject was then changed. “So I guess I'll call Simon now.”

    Rhodey raised an eyebrow. “You've got his number?”

    “Since he was a team member not too long ago, yes. I keep the numbers of the people we've had recently around. And if I need one I don't have, I just go ask Jan. She can not only give you the phone numbers of anyone who's been on the Avengers for even an hour, she can also give you a detailed account of where they might be spending their time now.” He could now think of all the times in the past that Jan had been able to get him for events or celebrations, and was always amazed at how she could track down even more obscure members of the team. In the past people might have thought of her as just a socialite, but her ability to make contact with others was one of the most valuable assets that Jan could bring to the table, and it served her well in leadership roles.

    He waited as Tony began to speak. “Yeah, hi Simon. It's me, Tony. I was wondering if for whatever reason we spoke yesterday.” A pause. “Okay. So we haven't seen each other since you helped us out. Good to know. Why am I asking? I know that this sounds weird, but I can't remember what I did yesterday, but I know I went to see somebody. I heard you were in town, and thought it might have been you.” This time the pause was quite a bit longer. “Really? You've gotten how many calls from them? And you've never seen that number before? Can you tell me what it is?” A beat. “Yeah, I don't know who that is either. That is strange. Anyway, thanks for helping out.”

    As Tony ended the call, he said “I'm guessing from what I heard you weren't talking.”

    “No. I asked Steve about how long I left yesterday, and it wasn't all that much time. Simon was getting some things sorted out near his home, and if I'd gone there it would have taken me longer to get back. So I'm guessing it's someone fairly close.” Tony did share something unexpected. “Simon told me he's gotten a few calls over the last few days that he doesn't recognize the number of. He's just been sending them to voicemail, but it's kind of weirding him out. He gave me the number, but it didn't make a difference since I didn't know any more than he did.”

    “Maybe I might know who it is?”

    “Sure. Let me tell you the number.” Unfortunately, Rhodey had just as little idea of who that might be as did Tony and Simon.

    “Well, now what?” He had no idea of what to do next, but felt like he needed to be doing _something._

    “Depends. How long are you going to be here?”

    He knew that it wasn't a good idea to spend too long away from the things that he needed to do. However, a friend was a friend. Tony needed him, so he could find a few ways to stretch out his time here. “Don't know yet. But I'll be here as long as you need me.”

    The smile told him it was all worth it. “Thanks, Rhodey.”

    “Anytime.” He grinned and said, “Now let's go and get some food. I could kill for a really good pizza, and it'll be even better since you're going to be paying for it.”

    He was slapped on the back, and Tony replied “Tell me why I keep hanging around with you?”

    “Because we both like to go flying around in metal suits of armor? That's not really the type of thing that most people are into.”

    “That's sure true. One pizza, on me, coming up.”

    As they were leaving the tower, Rhodey noticed the Sentry watching them. He felt uneasy with that, and was glad to get outside.

    He hoped it wasn't a portent of things to come.

 


	12. Visions of the Future

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wanda and Bonita discuss the past, and get a dream that sends them on a journey.

    Even with Wanda staying with her, Bonita found that her plans for the weekend weren't altered all that much. She still was able to make it over to the mission for most of Saturday, and Wanda helped her out with painting the living room. By now she was counting her as being a close friend, and when they were done she looked over her clothes. While the two of them were fairly similar in size, Bonita wanted to get her a few more things. All of Wanda's belongings had been in the mansion, so she had been stuck wearing the clothes that she had been wearing and what Bonita loaned her.

    "This looks pretty good, I think." Standing back and looking at the completed project, she was glad to have a sense of normalcy in her life. "I'm glad you were here, because it would have taken me so much longer to get it done if I was working alone."

    "It was actually pretty fun." Wanda looked thoughtful as she spoke once more. “I remember when I got my first home. I was always going around and doing something to spruce things up, and I was looking forward to growing things. Vision had all these plans for what we were going to do, but before we could get started with any landscaping there was the fire. I think that having our plans ruined hurt almost as much as knowing that someone hated us enough to burn down our home.”

    Bonita had heard about the fire at one point from Hank, and the cruelty of such an act never ceased to astound her. “I'm surprised that you stayed in Leonia after that. If it had been me, I don't think that I could stay where I knew that there were people who wanted to do me serious physical harm.”

    “We did think about leaving for a while. But I hated the idea of giving in to someone else's hate. I've dealt with more than enough of that for my whole life. I can still see all the times that Father would go and try to get some work in order to get by, and how it almost always felt like he was rejected. As a child I never understood why, or why Mother told me when I wanted to go further in school that it wasn't going to happen. Pietro and I were lucky in that respect – until we became teenagers the prejudice that we faced every day was kept away from us. I wonder if having to face that so suddenly was one of the factors behind us joining the Brotherhood. The world was against us for so many different reasons then, and we'd found people who wanted to strike back at it. How many others in the same boat would have chosen as we did?”

    “More than most people would like to admit. There's a desire to belong within most of us, and if you can't find a place in what we think of as normal society, then you start looking elsewhere. It's why cults tend to look for people who are searching for something in their lives to give them meaning. Offer what they need most, and people will come running.” Bonita did add “It says a lot about you and your brother that you were able to get out. What was it that triggered your decision?”

    “A bunch of different things. I think that for me one of the factors was meeting the X-Men, and realizing that not all mutants felt that the world could never accept them. Some of the things that my father wanted us to do were getting harder and harder to carry out, and eventually we had to make a choice. So we left, trying to get by on out own again. Then one day we thought about trying to see if we could get accepted somewhere as being heroes. I wanted to go and seek out the X-Men, but Pietro thought that if we did that then we would never be able to get away from people thinking of us as mutants first and foremost. So we got connected to the Avengers, and the rest is history.”

    “And you just did what he wanted?”

    “That was how a lot of things ended up back then. We'd been alone for so long, and being protective is something that comes easily to him. I was afraid of my powers, and it was mostly easier to just give in. It wasn't until I acknowledged my feelings towards Vision that I was able to stand on my own two feet.”

    “Love is one of those things that can make or break you, at least in my experience.” She asked “Was it hard when you first came here? Life as an Avenger must have been so different than anything you were used to before.”

    “It was strange at first. With the Brotherhood I never had to worry about getting enough to eat, but if there was anything else I wanted then it had to wait. Then I just thought that we were struggling enough to get by, so extras were off the table. It wasn't until later on that I realized we had more than enough resources, but the only things that were worthy of spending on were those that furthered the cause of mutant separatism.”

    Based on everything she had heard, Bonita knew that Magneto wasn't quite the same person he had been when Wanda and Pietro had been members of the Brotherhood. But based on the sound of Wanda's voice, she wasn't totally inclined to make amends with him. Hearing what had gone on in the past made it clear why this was the case: while her father may have been genuinely sorry for how he had treated his children in the past, what he had done wasn't going to be brushed off now that he wanted to treat them better.

    Wanda went on to add, “So when I first got to New York and saw my room at the mansion, it was a shock. I'd never seen such a nice place, and it was all mine. And Tony was there, telling me that if I wanted to have anything there I just needed to ask. I think the first thing I asked for was some books, and I got them later that night. There was Jarvis, asking both of us what we liked to eat so he could keep those things around. It all felt like I was coming home again for the first time in so long.”

    The pleasure in the memories was enough to make Bonita smile. “It was different for me when I joined. The West Coast team didn't have the same structure, so I didn't quite feel like I was home in the same way. Not that we weren't close, but there was a looser approach to things there. It worked out well for us most of the time, though. None of us had quite the same need for a home that you and Pietro did, so it was okay if things didn't work out the way they did back east.”

    “Back in the whole Kooky Quartet days we all needed a place to belong. Steve was a man decades out his time, Clint had been on the wrong side of previous encounters, and we were trying to find a place in the world. One of the biggest things that helped out was Tony and Jan. Tony was always going and offering us things to help get by, whether it was classes to improve our English or opportunities to get a further education. And Jan, she was the one who showed me all the ins and outs of the world here, and was able to tell me how to improve the way my costume was made.”

    When Bonita had first gotten a membership with the Avengers, the first thing she had been asked to do was send her costume off to Janet Van Dyne. She'd been more than happy to do so, knowing of the woman's fame as a designer and that she had helped out other members in making sure they were best fit for safety and maneuverability. The improvements were exactly what she had needed, and she'd told Jan that she was grateful for what she had done during the annual Christmas gathering. "She did the same thing for me when I joined." The mention of clothes made her look over Wanda. While the temporary decision to have her borrow Bonita's things was alright as a short-term measure, with her being taller it wasn't going to work out in the long run. "That reminds me that we need to go out and get you some things to wear. I know that at some point you're probably going to want to go out, and all of my things are going to be a little too small for you."

    She said "I know you're right, and as soon as I can I'm going to find a way to pay you back for everything that you've done. It's not like the first time I got a chance to go shopping with someone here, and knew they could take care of everything."

    "I'm more than glad to help you. So who took you shopping that time? I'm betting on Jan."

    "Oh yes. Let me tell you, it was an eye-opening experience."

 

* * *

 

_Wanda was feeling nervous. After a look over the state of her belongings, Tony had suggested that she get some new clothes, as well as anything else she might need. “Jan's always ready to help out when it comes to fashion, so I'd recommend giving her a call. She might even take care of expenses. If not, then let me know and I'll loan you one of my credit cards. The bill shouldn't be a big deal unless you decide you want to buy the whole mall or something.”_

    “ _Then I will call her. Thank you, Tony.” It was odd that she was speaking to this man so familiarly. At first Wanda had called him Mr. Stark, but he had told her that he would feel better if she called him Tony. After all, he was the one who provided the funding for the Avengers and wanted them to feel like he was a friend. Tony had added that if it was too hard for her he wouldn't mind be addressed more formally, but Wanda said that she would have no problems doing so._

    “ _Then let me give you Jan's number. I think that the two of you are going to get along really well.”_

_When Wanda made the call, she almost hung up when she heard the unfamiliar voice say “Hello? Jan speaking.” She knew of Jan in both her public status as well as her identity of the Wasp. It was hard to believe that someone like that would want to go shopping with her._

    “ _This is Wanda Maximoff. I was told to call you about going shopping at some point?”_

_She sounded delighted as she said “Oh, I was hoping to hear from you! I can come over in a few days, and then I can go over what you're wearing as an Avenger. I did the same thing for Clint, and maybe I can give your brother a once-over as well.”_

_So the meeting was set, and now she was pacing around waiting for Jan to arrive. Jarvis had asked her she needed anything, but her answer was no. Pietro was lurking around somewhere, still not fully willing to trust anyone else._

_Her first impression of Janet Van Dyne was of a woman who was constantly in motion. She extended her hand and said “I'm glad to meet you, Wanda. Tony gave me a heads-up on some of the things you might need, and I've made a list of what I'd like us to get today.”_

_Wanda could feel her face turn red as the thought of both of them speaking about her pathetic wardrobe came to her mind. Jan was able to spot this, and responded with “I'm sorry if I embarrassed you. I just wanted to have an idea of what measurements I needed to get.”_

_Measurements? The few times she had been shopping for clothes in her life she had just grabbed things and tried them on. “Why do you need to do that?”_

    “ _So I can get an idea of what size you might be wearing, and also what looks good on you. There are so many different body types – apples, pears, hourglasses, and bananas. Each of them has a different style that compliments them best, and my goal is to see you looking your best. Almost everyone feels better about themselves when they have something that looks nice on them.”_

_It was still hard to believe that she was going to so much effort to make Wanda look good. She wasn't all that sure it would make a difference, since there was no one she really needed to impress. “All right then.”_

_In her room, Jan went about with her measuring tape getting all the numbers she needed. As she worked on that, she asked “Do you have your costume around?”_

    “ _Yes, it's in my dresser.”_

    “ _Great. Let me take a look.” Wanda handed it over and waited for her assessment. “Is this all regular fibers, or do you have Kevlar or something in there?”_

    “ _I think it's mostly cotton. That was all I had when I first started.”_

    “ _Then I'd like to take it in and get something a little stronger in the weave. Trust me, nothing can stop you faster than a well-placed bullet can. After I got shot, I made sure that Hank and I both could handle things like that better, because I wasn't going to put everyone through that all over again. I'd always thought before that I could use my abilities to get out of any kind of trouble.” She shook her head. “I was wrong.”_

_It was scary to think that after all she had been through in her life, a gunshot could end things so quickly. “Is there anything else I can do to keep safe?”_

    “ _Steve's been training you guys in basic self-defense, right? That will make a big difference. Thank God my dad put me in a few classes when I was younger, or I would have been completely lost when I started out with Hank. Sometimes I wonder what Dad would think of what I'm doing now.”_

    “ _Do you think he wouldn't approve of you being an Avenger?”_

    “ _No, that would be something he'd be glad to see. It more has to do with me being involved in fashion design. Dad thought that doing that for a living was silly, and wouldn't let me go study at FIT even when I promised to work my way through. That was around the time I met Hank.”_

_She'd heard a bit about Hank Pym and his relationship with Jan. “What was it like when you met him?” Wanda didn't want to sound frivolous, but she would admit to having a romantic streak within her. Pietro, being more cynical by nature, had always told her that her fantasies of one day meeting the right man and falling in love on the spot were unrealistic, but Wanda held a place in her heart for dreams._

    “ _I first met Hank when Dad came to see him about a project he was looking into, and wanted some scientific help. I went with him because I was trying to get him to hear me out about my plans for the future, and if I showed interest in what he was doing it might help my cause. The thing that surprised me about him most was how he understood about my dreams. Hank's about as familiar with fashion as I am with biochemistry, but he knew that it was something that was important to me. Dad wasn't all that happy that I wanted to spend time with him, since he was older than me.” She rolled her eyes. “He's twelve years older than me, and I was twenty-one when we first met. Hardly robbing the cradle there. Honestly, it was probably more about how Hank had turned him down than it was anything else. So we started talking, and things just grew from there.”_

_It sounded so nice, and it made Wanda hope that one day she would be lucky enough to find someone like that in her life. After putting the tape around her shoulders, Jan nodded and then began to write down some numbers. She asked “Is that all you need?”_

    “ _From you directly, yes. I'd like to take a bit of a look at what you already have to give us a better idea of where to begin. Is that okay with you?”_

_She knew that the sad state of her wardrobe was going to look terrible to Jan, but she didn't think it would be any better if she said no. “That's fine.”_

_For the most part Jan went about looking only making a few noises, but she stopped dead upon seeing her closet. “Wanda Maximoff! Where on earth did you get a fur coat like this?”_

    “ _It was a gift from someone.” She hadn't known what to do with Warren's gift after she'd gotten it, and knew that she could never feel comfortable wearing it, so she'd just stored it away until some other alternative came up._

    “ _This must have cost a bit.” She looked at Wanda and said with a bit of a frown on her face “Was this some kind of proposition?”_

    “ _No, just a gift on a date. When I got it I said that you could buy a car for the money spent on that one coat, and then he asked me if I wanted to get a car! I said no, but I was shocked that people could just go throw away money so easily. I'd never met anyone like that before.”_

    “ _So, would this gift-giver be someone I know?” Jan asked teasingly._

    “ _Are you trying to ask if it was Tony who gave it to me?” That seemed to be the most plausible reason she wanted to know._

_She laughed. “I didn't think he did. Tony may be someone who can go for anyone in a room, but you're an employee of his in a way. He'd never cross over that line. I was more thinking that they had to be someone with a lot of money, and I'm well-acquainted with quite a few people in the city who could fit the bill. I was kind of hoping I could tease them a little bit.”_

    “ _I really can't tell you who it is. If I did, he would be put in danger.” She knew of what consequences could come about if Warren's status as a mutant came to the public eye. Jan most likely wouldn't care, but she was only one woman._

    “ _Ah. I'm sorry I asked, then.” A pause. “Did you love him?”_

    “ _No, I didn't. We were just two people trying to find some peace for a little while. I just think that he forgot that what he might think of as a nice gift would be so much for someone with far less.”_

_She nodded. “Welcome to the world of the really rich. It's way too easy for us to just go around and forget that most people can't buy fur coats on a whim for a date.”_

_She couldn't imagine ever having that attitude towards money. Changing the subject, she asked “So, have you found what you need to know?”_

    “ _Yes. One question: do you ever plan on wearing that coat?”_

    “ _No. It's a bit too much for me.” She hoped Jan wasn't going to ask if she could have it._

    “ _Then here's what I think you should do: auction off the coat. All the proceeds from the sale can go to whatever charity you want, and it'll get some use besides just hanging in your closet for all time. What do you have to say to that?”_

    “ _Oh, I don't know if anyone would want to buy it off of me. I'm just not famous enough.”_

    “ _There are plenty of people who would kill to get their hands on something an Avenger has owned, but if you're really worried about it I'll just say it's mine. I know someone would want that.”_

    “ _That's fine.” On some level Wanda still felt intimidated by Jan. She did like the idea of doing something with the coat, but had a funny feeling in her about something so public. Well, it would probably be easier if she wasn't the center of it all._

_When they arrived at the mall, she was surprised that Jan took her into a normal department store instead of some small boutique shop. She wanted to ask if this was the type of place she normally went to, but remained silent. What she did do was watch as Jan took some things off the racks and commented on them. “I noticed you've got a lot of darker colors in your clothes. That's good, because they really suit your features. Sometimes you might want to get a few brighter colors in the mix to shake things up. Nothing neon or anything like that, but an occasional warmer shade does wonders to make you stand out.”_

_The next question she had to ask. “Why are you so concerned about what looks good on me? Does it really matter to you?”_

_While she expected to get a negative reaction, her words were taken in stride. “It's in my nature. I've always had a thing for clothes and how to make people look good. There's nobody in the whole world who can't find something that looks flattering on them, no matter what they look like. And it feels so good when you see yourself looking your best. It's one of my favorite things to see when I've done some design work for someone in particular and they get a look at their new outfit. And I want my fellow Avengers to have that same feeling.” She looked Wanda straight on and said, “There haven't been many people in your life who've been kind to you for its own sake, have there?”_

_She tried to keep herself under control as she said “Not since I lost my parents. Pietro and I were always on the run, trying to get by on our own. You learn pretty quickly that if someone's offering help that they normally want something out of you, whether its your belongings or work. And after too long of living that way, then you can't turn off that feeling that everyone has an ulterior motive in mind when they meet you. The Brotherhood encouraged you to think like that – they wanted you to always feel like the whole world was at your throat.”_

_Jan placed her hands on Wanda's shoulders and said “You're not going to have to worry about that with us. I promise.” She then went on to say “Now let's go and see how these look. I'm sure the sizes are going to be right based on the measurements I took, but nothing beats seeing how it turns out on an actual person. If I had a dollar for every time that I saw something that looked like it would be good on the hanger but turned out all wrong when you put it on... I'd have a lot of dollars.”_

_Wanda did go and try on the clothing, but wasn't certain what to say about some of it. There was one shirt that looked good on her, but she just didn't feel right wearing it. But if she said that, she worried that Jan would feel disappointed. So she just stood there and waited for a response._

    “ _What do you think?”_

    “ _It's fine,” was what came too quickly out of her mouth._

_Jan tilted her head and replied “That doesn't sound all that enthusiastic. Be honest – do you like it or not?”_

    “ _I don't know. It looks nice, but I just don't feel right wearing it.”_

    “ _Then you shouldn't get it. You're the one who has to make the final choice, since you're going to be wearing these things. I only picked what I thought might work, not what I wanted to make you get.”_

_The shirt was put back, and the only other wrinkle to emerge was when Wanda objected to a dress she felt was too expensive. “For the price of that dress, we could get almost a dozen other things. And it's too fancy. I never get dressed up like that. We should put it back.” Unlike the shirt, she not only loved the dress and the way it looked, but it also made her feel special when she put it on. Yet the idea of spending so much money on one thing was a challenge for her to accept._

_Jan waved her wand dismissively. “I've got a bunch of things in my closet that cost a few times more than this one dress, and I didn't think twice before buying them. Besides, if you have to go to any events it'll serve you well. I can guarantee you that as an Avenger you are going to be going to parties and fundraisers and that sort of thing, so a good dress is a great investment.”_

_She said. “Then I think I want it.”_

_After a few hours, Wanda had more new clothes than she had ever imagined having. She looked at Jan, and asked her "Would it be possible to get some more things for Pietro as well? I feel a little guilty having all of this while he still has so little."_

_"Well, most of the guys I know don't really go for shopping expeditions like this, but if Pietro says anything then either send him to me or Tony. Based on what I know about him, he's just going to be happy to see you happy. And if you ever want to go out again, just call me and see if I can come over."_

_She was touched by all the kindness Jan had shown her, and how she had gone out of her way to make her feel comfortable. "Thank you. For everything," was all she could think to say._

_Jan gave her a big smile. "Any time."_

 

* * *

 

    In terms of stories about heroes, Wanda's account wouldn't have seemed like a big deal. There wasn't any major conflict, and all she and Jan had done was the same things that people did every day. But Bonita thought it was one of the best stories she'd ever heard. "That sounds like a lovely memory. I can still remember the first fancy dress I got, and how I felt so wicked for spending so much. But trust me, when I first saw how it looked on me I knew that I was going home with it."

    "Oh, I was so glad when I had a chance to first wear the dress. It was the first event I attended as an Avenger, and it was so overwhelming. Steve had gathered us for a meeting and told us about the dinner, and I thought it was a good thing I had something to wear..."

    And the sounds of Wanda sharing her story and Bonita laughing at the account rang throughout the entire home.

 

* * *

 

    It had been nearly a week since Wanda had gotten the name of the person who was targeting the Avengers, but she was no closer to any answers than she had been before.

    She and Bonita had both gone looking through whatever records and databases they could find, trying to see anyone who was either named or went by the name of Robert Reynolds. Bonita had gone and spoken to her old colleagues on the Rangers, but nothing had come of that. They had gone looking through even the smallest, most minute teams that had been formed, but nowhere had there been any mention of the man. At this point she was suspecting that he had never encountered any other heroes, or there would be some mention of the man in some account. There was a small chance that he had faced others under a different name, but since the spell had pointed her towards the name Wanda knew that somewhere along the way she would find him.

    “At this point I'm wondering if we should just go and try to look for everyone in the New York area that has the name Robert Reynolds and start calling them one by one. It can't be any harder than all the looking we've been doing.” While Wanda spent the day doing what she could to find answers, Bonita had been searching both after work and when she had a moment of spare time at her job. She sounded tired right now, the frustration of not getting results getting in her mind.

    “I'm half tempted to start doing something like that myself. I was so sure that once we got a name I was going to be able to put a face to it, but it's just been a whole lot of nothing. I hope that the fact we aren't having any success isn't because this Robert has been doing something to block us.”

    Bonita sounded thoughtful as she said “He did send those shadows after us, so he's got to know we're out there. But he didn't seem to realize that shadows aren't the best weapon to use against someone who has powers based on heat. So I'm not sure he'd be doing that. I think that he's too caught up in himself to think that we can stop him. The way those things acted was utterly confident in their ability to destroy us, and I'm positive that they reflect the attitude of the one that sent them.”

    “I can believe that, but I'm still trying to figure out what he has against us? If he were an opponent of somebody somewhere, then there's a chance he has had contact with the Avengers in the past, but since we've found nothing about him I don't think that's the reason. So why do all this?”

    “Maybe he's someone who got rejected for membership at some point. How many people have tried out and not made the cut? That might be enough to send him over the edge.”

    “Possible, but if that's the case then I never heard about him. As far as I know, no Robert Reynolds has ever attempted to join the team.”

    “Well, there's a chance he slipped under the radar. I'm just grasping at straws here. And it's making me real nervous to know that this guy could be around anywhere, doing anything. I don't think that he's done anything really world-shattering, or else we'd have heard something about it. The question I'm wondering about is whether this means he's idle right now, or is he trying to destabilize the new team in some way?”

    Bonita had a good point. By now Wanda felt that their foe wasn't likely to be working on anything major, or there would have been some report coming from somewhere. She had been keeping an eye on the news not only to see if there was something that she could tie to the man, but also wanting to see if there was any information coming out about her. There was still nothing, and by now she was doubting there would be. Instead of making her feel better, it only served to enhance her worries. At one point Steve had been thinking about killing her in order to put a stop to the danger she posed. You didn't go from that to just shrugging your shoulders and saying “Oh well, she's gone,” in a day or so. At the least they would have gone and questioned Pietro. (They might have still done so, but nothing had come of that in any event.) Even if they didn't think of Bonita as being someone she might go to for help, at some point other Avengers should have been told of her escape, if only to warn them.

    Wanda sighed. A part of her felt like giving up and just waiting for someone to find her. But that would place too much of a strain on Bonita, and she had grown far too close to her for that to be something she would consider a serious option. All she could say was “I think I'll turn in for tonight. Maybe tomorrow I'll feel more like I can find our answers.”

    As she drifted off, she dreamed again. The woman she had seen the last time under attack was in a kitchen, serving up meals to three people, likely the children Wanda had seen in her previous dream. And just like before, she heard a man's voice echo through the room. “Anna Altman.”

    Anna moved to block the shadowy figure from the previous dream from reaching the table. “What do you want from me? Who are you?”

    He laughed. “You have no idea, do you? If you hadn't gone out that one night... But enough of that. I have found the danger, and now I understand. Of course you have to go, and the threats, but I might let the other one live. My plans are too important to be disrupted by such minor things.”

    “If you want them you'll have to go through me first. I will not let you harm the children as long as I stand.” Her voice was shaking slightly, but the way she carried herself showed that she was willing to stand up for her family at all costs.

    "That was exactly what I had in mind." Suddenly coming from the floor were rope-like tendrils that grabbed Anna and forced her to her knees. "I knew that you would stand up for the children, and that this was how it was going to end. But I promise that I will be quick."

    Wanda wanted to scream. She knew that this had to be the mysterious Robert Reynolds, and that either he had gone after Anna Altman at some point in the past or was planning on doing so in the future. Yet how she could stop him still wasn't clear. "Where are you?" she whispered.

    Evidently he heard that, as he turned from Anna to her. "So. You've learned of me. Not that it matters, because in a little while I will have the only threat to my plans removed. And then I can go forward. Heroes fighting heroes, that's how it's going to be. From there the public will need someone who is willing to step into the vacuum and take charge. I doubt you will have problems guessing who this person will be."

    "It's not going to be you. Because we are going to stop you." Bonita's voice came from behind her, and as she turned she could see her standing there, wearing her pajamas. Wanda knew that she was dressed the same way she had been when she went to bed, but whether this meant anything wasn't obvious.

    "My dear Firebird, you were too late the minute you found me. You should have acted before." And the same bonds that were now binding Anna wrapped up both her and Wanda, and as everything faded to darkness she could hear a final cry from Anna...

    She was barely able to stifle her cry as she woke. The previous dream had left her confused, but this time she knew it was a portent of things to come. Anna Altman, whoever she may be, was for some reason a target for Robert Reynolds. Wanda hadn't heard of her either, but she did have the address she had gotten from the prior dream. That could give her something.

    There was a frantic knocking on her door. “Oh God, Wanda, I've just had the most horrible dream. I was watching a woman in her kitchen, and then a man came and told her she was a danger. And you were there, and her children were watching, and we were going to face him...” Bonita stopped, still breathing heavily. “I couldn't see the man, but I'm certain that he's the one we're looking for. I don't know who this Anna Altman is either. So I don't know how we're going to find her. She's in danger for some reason, and we need to get to her before Robert does.”

    “I think I have an idea of how we can do that. This is the second dream I've had about Anna, and in the first one I was able to get an address. I don't know how many Anna Altmans there are in the country, but I think that we can narrow it down a bit more that with Mr. Reynolds here.”

    “Let me get my laptop. Hold on.” Bonita came running back, and asked “What was the address you saw?”

    “213 Spring Hill Road.”

    She started typing, and soon said “We're in luck. There's only one Anna Altman in the whole country I can find who lives at that address, and she's in New Jersey.” Bonita looked straight at Wanda and said “We need to go and see her, before it's too late. And we'll have to fly. We can't take too long getting there. Do you know of anything that you might be able to do so that your lack of a real ID might not be a problem?”

    “I can try something. But you're right, we need to get there fast. Are there any flights that we could get early tomorrow?”

    “Let me check... Looks like we could make the 7:45 to Newark if we can pay through the roof to get tickets. Guess when all this is done I'll be sending an expenses report to Steve and Tony for two next-day plane tickets.” The glow on Bonita's face showed that she clearly thought the monetary sacrifice was a small price to pay. “I might as well start packing a few things, and seeing about renting a car in Newark. I know I won't be getting any more sleep tonight.” She paused. “Do you think this could be a trap?”

    “It might. But I still want to go and check things out, see what there is to see.” A new idea came to Wanda that would explain why this Anna might be a target. “Do you think that she's his ex or something like that? It would make sense why he wants to hurt her, and thinks of her as a threat.”

    “You know, I don't think that's the case. She didn't seem to have any idea of who he was or what he might want, so unless he's either done something to change his appearance or has been so warped by whatever he's doing they probably haven't met before. Also, I got the impression from what he was saying that Anna wasn't the threat he was worried about. He didn't make himself all that clear when he was talking, so I'm not sure what he was seeing as being a threat to him. And what about the kids? They weren't saying anything, and if our Robert had been married to their mother they should have recognized him barring the changes I mentioned.”

    She made a lot of sense. “I suppose. But in that case, why is some random woman on this man's radar? There's nothing I've seen in my dreams that shows anything a person might want to take care of. The only thing that kind of stands out to me is in the first dream, Anna asked whether he had come from home. So she might be running from something or someone – but that still doesn't explain why our enemy has decided that she or something in her home is a threat. They could be from the same place, but in my first dream he said that he wasn't from her home. So we still have nothing.”

    Bonita shut her laptop. “Well, I have two tickets for tomorrow. We'll worry about the rest later. I've got no idea where we might be able to stay, but it's more important to just get there and make sure this Robert doesn't beat us to the punch.”

    Wanda understood. She thought about what she knew about Anna Altman – that she was a mother of several children, and that someone finding her with intent to do harm wasn't outside of the realm of possibility. There was a chance that they would be turned away when they showed up on her doorstep, but what other choice did they have?

    Sending her thoughts through the air, Wanda repeated the same phrase. _We're coming to help you._

 


	13. Getting Help

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cassie and Kamala go to meet with Simon, but find that help comes from a different source.

    Cassie wasn't all that surprised that her mother didn't object to her going over to see Kamala. Part of that came from the fact that she was the last person you would think of as being any sort of problem, since she was normal-looking and was a good student. Although she thought that even if Kamala was a person you might give a pause to spending time with, her mother wouldn't care all that much.

    Of course, she wasn't going to meet her at her home. Cassie was headed out to Burger King, the appointed meeting place for their meeting with Wonder Man. She had been skeptical of Kamala's ability to track him down, but only a few days after they made their plans she had come running up to her saying "I got it!"

    “You know where he is? How did you find that out?”

    “Well, I'm a regular on a whole bunch of sites that are devoted to the Avengers, and a few of them have places where you can mention any sightings. So I just searched for Wonder Man, and someone who was staying in the same hotel he was posted about seeing him. They didn't say exactly where they were, but with a couple of things they mentioned I narrowed it down, and now I know where we need to go! Have you talked to your mom about going to study with me?”

    “She said it was fine, but I don't think she cared all that much. Do you need me to come over to meet up with your family before we go out?”

    “No, they're fine with me meeting you since you're Eli's friend. My parents have met him, and they trust him enough to say that if he knows you then you're all right with them.” Cassie felt weird hearing Kamala talk about her parents wanting to know what was going on in her life. She wished that her mother would at least try to pretend that she cared. Even going out now to meet a friend alone wouldn't have happened with Dad. He always would either take her over or have one of their parents do the same. He'd told her once that he would stop doing that once she got a driver's license, which was far enough in the future that Cassie was expecting to have Dad meeting her friends keep going on for a while.

    Of course, she wasn't exactly going alone. Dad had listened to her plans as soon as she had gotten home that day, and said “I'm going to come with you, just in case. We still don't know what we're dealing with, and I'm not taking any chances with your safety.” He'd also given her an update on the more comprehensive checks he'd been doing on the Ant-Man suit. “The canisters are in perfect working order as far as I can tell. So that can't be the cause of the problem. I'm being exposed just fine, it's just that it's not having any affect on me.” Cassie herself had tried on the suit, and was able to change her size without any trouble, so the problem entirely lay with him.

    So far there hadn't been any problems with having Dad in the house. Cassie made sure he had food before she left for school each day, and no one had come to her room asking who she was talking to at times. And she had to say that it was nice finally being able to see him again like she had before. They had also talked about what was going to happen after this all got resolved in some way. He promised that this time around he was going to go to court with a good lawyer, and put up the biggest fight he could to get her home.

    Right now Dad was on her shoulder, and while Cassie couldn't really feel him due to his size it was still nice to know he was there with her. She stood outside the restaurant, waiting for Kamala to arrive.

    “Hey, Cassie. Good to see you. You ready to do this?”

    “As ready as I can be. It's just like something Mr. Glenn used to say to me – sometimes the best way to get in the water is to jump right in.”

    The name caused a reaction in Kamala. “Mr. Glenn? Was he one of your teachers?”

    “No, he was my foster father. He and his wife took care of me for a while while Dad was in prison.”

    She blinked. “You had to go to foster care? Why? Wasn't there anyone in your family who could have helped out?”

    “At first I stayed with my Aunt Ruth and my Uncle Carl. But I guess with the way things were going and how much it was bothering me, it made me start acting funny. I didn't like to listen, wouldn't pay attention in school, things like that. My uncle finally said that I needed someone else to take charge of me, so that was how I wound up with them.” She laughed a little at the memory of what happened next. “I acted the same way with them for a while, but Mrs. Glenn was really patient and said that lots of other kids she had taken care of did the same things I did because they were upset or scared. She said that I could find better ways to show what I was feeling, and I did. For a little bit I wondered if they were going to try and be my new mom and dad, but they told me that it wasn't their job to be new parents to me since I was going to go back with Dad. And we went to see him every weekend, so I didn't feel like I was as far apart from Dad as I did before. Aunt Ruth took me to see him a few times, but my uncle said that prison wasn't a place for kids so we didn't go all that much.”

    Kamala shook her head. “You think that your uncle would have figured out that if you were acting up and not seeing your dad all that much that the two things might be connected in some way. I remember once when my mother went to go see some family for a while when I was five, and my dad would tell me every day how long it was going to be until she got back. And every night she called and we talked for a while, so it didn't feel like she was quite so far away.”

    Cassie sighed. “Dad was upset with them for a while because they hadn't tried to stick things through with me, and he was worried about how other kids would treat me if they knew I was in foster care. Honestly, that didn't make a difference, since they were already picking on me for having a dad who was in prison, so who was looking after me didn't make any real difference.”

    “For me it was a bunch of little things. Like bring what other kids called 'weird stuff' to school in my lunches. Until I started school didn't realize that my family wasn't like everyone else's, at not with some of the things we do. I mean, I knew that we didn't celebrate Christmas like the other people around us did, and that we had holidays that weren't like theirs, but I just thought that was the way things were there instead of everywhere. But being different in some way can be the worst thing in the world to some people.” She asked “Did your dad ever forgive your aunt and uncle?”

    “Yeah, he did. Aunt Ruth's his sister, and he knows what Uncle Carl is like, so he was able to accept it after a little bit. I think that the time when he was getting ready to leave prison helped him out, since he had to focus on what he was going to do then. And he needed all the help he could get, and Aunt Ruth was going to give him whatever she could, like looking after me when he worked. So we kind of went on as we had before.” She wondered what Dad was thinking, having to hear all this about the past again.

    “That still seems so weird to me. If I were to lose my parents, I know that I would have family that could take care of me. Did your mother just say no to looking after you? And if she didn't want you then, why does she want you now?”

    “I don't think anyone knew where she was then. After she left me and Dad, I didn't hear a thing from her until she decided to get me back. I don't think that she even sent child support, or things wouldn't have been quite so hard. As to why she wants me now, the only thing I can think of is that she'd like to look good to her new husband. Dad thinks that it might have something to do with what's been going on lately, but I don't think that can be true. When my mother first showed up, he'd only been an Avenger for a little while. Why would anybody think about him as a threat then? And besides, what would be the point of having my mother come back anyway?”

    Kamala said “If I were writing a story like this your mother would be coming back because she's secretly a supervillian who left because she was going to get exposed by someone. So she wants to destroy the Avengers because that's what people like that do, and wanted to take you from your dad because it's going to make things worse.” A beat. “But I kind of doubt any of that's true. Say, what is your dad doing while you're gone?”

    “He's right on my shoulder. Don't bother trying to look for him, since he's still too small to be seen with your eyes. Dad's looked everything over, but he can't think of a reason why he can't change sizes. The effects of the particles have never lasted this long.”

    She responded by saying “Hi, Mr. Lang! Sorry about meeting you like this, but it's pretty cool that you're the first Avenger I've gotten a chance to meet!” She sounded a bit worried as she asked “He can hear me, right?”

    “Yeah. Don't worry about that.”

    Dad then added for the first time “Tell Kamala it's nice for me to meet her too. She seems like a good friend to you, Cass.” Cassie could feel a feeling of something by her ear, and knew that was why she could hear him now.

    “He says it's nice to meet you too. Now let's get something to eat.”

    Part of their plan had consisted of where to get some food, since both Cassie and Kamala had told their parents they were going to have dinner at the other's home. The Burger King that they picked had been chosen not only because it was close and they both enjoyed the food, but it also was one of the places that could accommodate Kamala's dietary restrictions. Cassie asked her after they place their orders “Is it hard to have to pay attention to where and what you're eating all the time?”

    “Nah. I'm used to it. When you grow up doing something like that it's not as much of a problem as it is if you have to change all of a sudden. One of my cousins developed a peanut allergy when she was twelve, and that was hard to get used to. She'd always have a sandwich for lunch, and peanut butter was her favorite. Now she can't do that unless she wants to break out in awful hives. And that's not even taking into account things like candy that might have been made with peanuts, or baked goods, or so many other things. None of that would be something that you might think about normally, but when it's suddenly a big deal you've got to make all kinds of changes. Besides, I can still enjoy smelling things I can't eat. It's as close as I'm ever going to get.”

    Now she could say that she understood a little more. “I get it now. Hope I didn't make you upset by asking about it.”

    Kamala laughed. “I'd rather explain things to people than hear them whispering about it behind my back. A couple of years ago there was a girl who thought that all Muslims wear a hijab if they're female, and didn't know why I didn't. But instead of asking me directly, she just talked to people who know me or to teachers trying to get an answer. Now  _that_ bugged me. If you're asking for a good reason, then I'll do my best to give you an answer. Anyway, we really don't know each other all that well yet, so why wouldn't you have some questions about my life? I bet I'm going to be grilling you on all kinds of things while we go to meet Wonder Man, hopefully.”

    “I'll do my best to answer you, then.” She hoped that this was going to be the start of another friendship.

* * *

 

    Kamala kept running through her head what she was going to do once they were actually meeting Simon Williams. Ever since she'd been a kid, she'd followed the adventures of the Avengers closely. There was just something about a group of people who all came from different paths in life, having differing abilities, all choosing to work together towards the common goal of defending the Earth. It struck a chord with her, and she was proud of her ability to name every single hero who had served on the roster, even if it was only for a flash. And of course she had fantasized about one day joining their ranks, going so far as to write out exactly how this would happen. (Having found some of those older writings recently, she was very glad that her wish-fulfillment hadn't gone any farther than her notebooks. The cheesy dialog and melodramatic situations had made her laugh upon looking them over again, but the idea that other people might be looking over the work she had been so proud of at the time and also being reduced to laughter was not a pleasant one.)

    “Make sure you don't freak him out,” she muttered quietly, not wanting Cassie to hear. Out of all the ways she had thought about getting involved with the Avengers, something like this hadn't ever been on her radar. Hearing about what had happened at the Avengers mansion had come as a shock to her, and it was even more surprising when Cassie told her as they were heading to their final destination that this was all being blamed on one of their own. “Who?” she asked. Kamala had a few ideas of who it could be, ranging from obscure to common. She even wonder if this was being blamed on one of the deceased members, who was for some reason wreaking havoc on the living.

    “The Scarlet Witch.”

    She certainly hadn't expected that as an answer. In Kamala's mind, the best choice for a culprit would be someone who had some kind of grudge against the team. Wanda Maximoff didn't seem to have any reason to turn on the people who'd been her family for so long. “What? Why?”

    Cassie sighed. “The reason that we all got was that the Wasp mentioned her children that she'd lost, and because she didn't remember them finding out caused her to go insane. But when I talked to Dad about it, he said that can't be true because he'd spoken with her about that, and she sure remembered then. In fact, he told me about the Jan incident before all this went down. He was wondering why she'd been so cruel, and said that she'd never been so unkind to Wanda before. I don't know why someone decided that she was the one they needed to frame, or if they just have grudge against her or something like that.”

    Even with her vast store of knowledge about the Avengers, Kamala had no idea of who might want to do something like this. She opted to change the subject, and asked “So what's the plan for speaking to Wonder Man? I don't think that we can go and tell him the whole truth right now, but if we don't have a story to tell him then I really doubt he's going to talk with us.”

    Cassie's answer was “What I was thinking was just asking him about what he could tell me about what happened when Dad was hurt. I'll say that I tried to talk with Uncle Tony, but he got too upset talking about it. That part's at least true. Depending on how things go, I'll try to find a way to work Wanda into the conversation. I don't know what happened to her after the attack, but maybe if we find out where she is we could go and find a way to speak with her, and say that we know she didn't go crazy like they said.” Hearing her talk about Tony Stark as just an uncle to her sounded so strange.

    She was glad that Cassie had thought about what they would say. Even with the reminders she kept telling herself, Kamala could very easily see herself meeting Simon and throwing herself at his feet, shouting “It's really you!” and launching into an account of everything he'd done with the Avengers as well as the most recent fic she'd read that featured him. If that ended up happening, she was going to want to sink into the ground and never come out again.

    (Her thoughts briefly drifted towards why that wasn't just a figure of speech for her, but she pushed those thoughts back. She still wasn't sure if that meant what she was afraid it would mean.)

    By this point they were standing in front of the hotel that was their destination. “Here we are,” she said trying to calm down her nerves. “You scared?”

    “Not really. I met most of the former Avengers once Dad became a member. So I can use that to our advantage. It's always easier to go up to someone that you've met before, even just for a little while.”

    “I think the hardest part is going to be finding out exactly which room he's staying in. I looked over the post that other guy made, and the only thing I could see in the picture he had was the lobby of the place, and that's not going to help us any. And it's not likely that they're just going to let us go around knocking on all the doors until we get to the right one. So what now?” A part of her wondered if by asking the desk clerk a few questions they could get some clues, but Kamala doubted that the person doing that was going to risk their job for two girls' curiosity.

    Cassie didn't answer for a while, and when she spoke she finally said “Yeah, I see.” She hadn't been facing Kamala at the time, but now she turned in her direction. “It's not the most ethical solution, but Dad gave me an idea. He could go and see if there's something in the computers that tells you who's staying in which room. Then we'd know where to go, and the only problem then would be getting there. I'm thinking that's our only option right now, but if it doesn't make you comfortable then we'll think of something else.”

    Engaging in that kind of sneaking around wasn't her favorite thing, but she understood that sometimes you had to do whatever it took to serve a greater good. While Kamala had no idea what the Avengers might have done to the Scarlet Witch, they had to have detained her in some way. And how would it feel, being blamed for something you didn't do, with nowhere to turn and no one on your side? “You're right. It's the only way we're going to be able to set this right.”

    Cassie knelt down, and she stayed that way for a moment. Eventually she got up, and said “Dad'll give us a sign when he's done.”

    Knowing what Mr. Lang could do, she could guess what the sign was going to be. Sure enough, when she looked down she could see a gathering of ants spelling out 234.

    “That's the room, then.” Cassie went back over to where the insects were dispersing and knelt down once more. “So now we have to get to the second floor.”

    That turned out to be easier than either one thought it might be. The man at the desk was sitting back and reading a magazine, and they just walked in like they belonged there. “I hope that this isn't one of those places that makes you use a key card to get upstairs,” Kamala remarked.

    “We'll come to that once we get there,” was Cassie's answer. However, it never came up as the door to the stairs could be opened by anyone. They found themselves in the 240's when they got up there, so they didn't have too far to go.

    Deciding that she was going to be the one who took action, Kamala was the one who knocked on his door first. When there was no response at first, she tried again with more force hoping that they weren't out of luck and he wasn't there.

    The second knock did the trick, and the door opened to reveal a rather surprised Simon Williams. “Cassie? What are you doing here?”

    “Hi, Simon. I know that this seems a bit out of the blue, but I've been thinking a lot over the last few days about what happened with my dad, and Uncle Tony isn't happy when I try to ask him about it. So I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions?”

    “Of course you can. Come in, you and your friend, and I'll see what I can do for you.”

    She had to try and contain herself while having a seat. In some ways this was like a dream come true – she was meeting one of the Avengers face to face, and even better was the fact that it was in the name of a good cause. She thought to herself:  _stay quiet unless Cassie needs you to say anything._

    Simon sat down himself, and asked “So what were the things you were wondering about?”

    “Mostly why Dad was one of the ones taken down. I don't think that Wanda would have had anything against him, and they didn't know each other for long enough so that he could have been seen as having kept the information about her kids from him. So why was he the one attacked?”

    He shrugged. “Who knows? She'd gone crazy, so there didn't need to be any sense in all that.”

    Cassie went on to say “But the whole attack and what happened to Uncle Tony during his speech would have required some degree of planning, right? So if Wanda had really gone nuts and was just randomly lashing out wouldn't you expect to see a bunch of stuff that didn't really connect to happen?”

    Kamala then added, “And I'm trying to understand why her first reaction upon going mad would be to just attack you guys. I don't know what happened with her kids, but I don't think you guys had anything to do with it. Wouldn't it make more sense for her to go after whoever took them away from her?”

    There was something about the way that that he said the next few sentences that made her realize that there was something affecting his mind. “No one took them away, because they didn't exist in the first place. Just a product born of her desire to be a mother, nothing more...” He trailed off, and Cassie was staring in shock.

    She recovered enough to ask “But I saw a picture of you with them once. If they weren't real, then how did that happen?”

    “Wanda must have been around somewhere when the picture was taken. The boys couldn't be seen if she wasn't there. And most of the time when we were with them, she was also there.”

    “But what about the picture? How can you take a picture of someone who doesn't exist? And besides, you said that Wanda was only around most of the time people were with her children. You were able to see them then, right?” Kamala pressed on with the point, trying to get through to him.

    She never did find out what Simon was going to say next, because they were interrupted by the sound of a phone ringing. He went to grab it, and said “Not this number again. I swear, I'm blocking them if they call me again. I have no idea who they are or what they might want, but I've been getting almost daily calls from that number. It's driving me crazy. How did someone get this number anyway? I only give my personal number to a few people that I know well.”

    She whispered to Cassie “Ask your dad if he can find out what the phone number is.”

    Cassie instead went for a direct approach. “Can you tell me what the number is? Maybe I can recognize it for you.”

    He looked like he might do it for a moment, but there was a strange glimmer in his eyes before he said “How would you know them? It's just got to be some marketing thing. There's no way it could be important.” His voice was completely flat on the last sentence.

    By this point she knew that someone was messing with his mind. For whatever reason, there was something about that person who was calling him that was important. If you were getting calls from a strange number, wouldn't your first instinct be to see who it was? Why hadn't Simon either answered his phone or checked his voice mail if he were so bothered about getting these calls?

    She heard Cassie whisper in response, “He's got it.”

    Knowing that now it was time to go, Kamala then said “I don't meant to be a pain, but it's getting late. Remember how we promised we'd be back in time? Thanks for your time, Mr. Williams.” She got up along with Cassie.

    He still seemed to be in some kind of trance, and said in the same flat tone as before, “Good to talk to you.”

    Leaving the hotel was easier than getting in had been, as they could just take a side door to leave. Anyone who saw them would just think that they were guests. Once they were outside, both of them took a moment to catch their breath. Cassie broke the silence first, saying “Something was wrong with Simon. Did you see the way he spoke when you asked him about why Wanda would want to hurt the Avengers instead of the person who took her kids? It was like he became another person.”

    “Yeah, I could see that. I thought he'd at least be able to give us something we could talk to someone else about, but every time Wanda was brought up he just shut down. Do you think that it was really him, or maybe some impostor has taken his place?”

    “I don't know. At least we got the phone number.” She added “I don't know who it might be that was calling him, but at least we got something. I'm going to go and see who it might be now.”

    “I wonder if it might be Wanda calling him.” Kamala honestly doubted that, because he probably would have known that it was her calling. But then again, with the way he acted when she was brought up he might not be able to make the connection.

    “Well, we won't know until we make the call.” And Cassie began to punch in the numbers.

* * *

 

    As it had every other time he had tried to make the call, Philip only was able to get to voicemail. Since Simon had told him about his meeting with the former nanny, there had been no further communication from him. Both him and Magdalene had called him multiple times, but they had never been able to get a hold of him.

    "No luck?" Magdalene was leaning over his shoulder.

    "No. I wish that we'd thought to ask Simon where he was staying while he's out here. The only trace of him I've seen since the last time we spoke was seeing an article that showed him having teamed up with the new Avengers recently. I'm beginning to think that whatever's been affecting everyone's memory has gone and gotten Simon again."

    "Since he joined up with the Avengers that one time, do you think that the person who's doing all this was the one that they were facing that day?"

    "Based on what I know about them, I tend to doubt it." Philip had a horrible thought. "But maybe it's not an enemy. Maybe it's someone closer to the team."

    While he didn't come out and say what he was thinking, Magdalene was able to guess what it was right away. "You think it could be someone on the  _team?_ But who?"

    “My first guess would be the Sentry, only because he's new and no one seems to know anything about him. But that's also a reason I'm not confident in saying it's him. At this point I'm still going for someone with a grudge against the Avengers. Why would someone who as far as I know has never had any contact with them have such a strong level of hatred?”

    Magdalene pondered the issue for a period of time. “I'm starting to think that it might be someone who has ties to the Avengers either now or in the past, but isn't actually a member of the team. One way someone could get so angry is to be looked over in favor of another person, especially if they have some special abilities that aren't acknowledged. But we still have no proof of anything. Even if we could go and demonstrate that we were speaking with Simon before and that his memory has been affected, what do you think everyone would say?” She sighed and slumped down. “Maybe we should just give up. So far we've found nothing, and even if we did how would we be able to convince everyone else of the truth? I don't think that photo album is going to be enough for everyone to exonerate Wanda, and that's all we've got right now.”

    He couldn't help but agree with her. “You're right Mag. We've probably been overstepping ourselves. We're just not important to anyone, and we forgot that when trying to be big heroes.”

    And then the phone rang.

    Philip and Magdalene both looked at each other for a few moments. He was the first to speak, saying “It's got to be Simon. Now we can find out what he knows.” He grabbed the phone and said “Hello?”

    But the voice on the other end wasn't Simon Williams. It was the voice of a girl, who sounded uncertain as she spoke. “Uh, hi. I'm sorry if this sounds weird, but can I ask who's speaking?”

    “I'm Philip Javert. Who are you? How did you get this number?”

    Philip didn't get an answer right away, as it sounded like she was talking to someone else. “He's who? Okay, I'll keep talking to him.” She then addressed him directly. “I'm sorry this is so out of the blue, but I'm Cassie Lang. I don't know you, but I got your phone number from Simon.”

    He didn't wait for her to say more. “Simon told you to speak to me? Did he say why he hasn't been returning our calls?”

    “No. He didn't even seem to have any idea who was calling him. I got your number, and figured that there had to be something important about all those calls.”

    While Cassie didn't know him (not surprisingly), Philip knew that she was Scott's daughter. It made sense that she might want to look into what had happened the day her father died. “That explains why we haven't heard from him. Simon's been working with Magdalene and me to look into something related to the Avengers.”

    Cassie's voice grew hopeful as she said “That's great, because I'm kind of doing the same thing. I've learned a few things about what happened when Wanda supposedly went crazy, and I wasn't sure of who I could talk to. My friend here says that you're both Avengers, right?”

    “Yes. We were mostly members in another world, but we've done a little bit of work for them here.”

    “Great. I've got a lot to tell you, because I'm really convinced that all of the Avengers are in danger. My friend and I were meeting Simon to see if we could get some answers from him, but he was acting so strangely that I didn't know what to do until he got your call.”

    Philip asked her “Did Simon give you the number? Why would he do that?”

    “He didn't give it to me. I got the number another way, because the way he acted when you called told me that it was important.” 

    She was clearly leaving something out, because he couldn't think of how else Cassie could have gotten the number, unless Simon had left his phone unattended and she'd gotten a glimpse of the last number that had called him. "What made you decide to go to Simon instead of Tony or someone like that?"

    "There's a couple of different reasons, but the biggest one was that I thought that the first place anyone would expect me to go would be to Uncle Tony. If someone was watching him, they might be able to hear what I have to say, and I don't want that to be known yet."

    Her caution made a lot of sense. “Can you tell me a bit about what you were looking into specifically?”

    “I was asking a few questions about why the whole story we've been told about Wanda doesn't make sense when you think about it, and how when I got a big problem pointed out to me I started to remember things I'd been told before but forgot about until then. The last part I didn't really get a chance to go through, because he shut down whenever I brought up Wanda.”

   Another girl's voice could be heard saying “Yeah, it was like someone had taken over his body or something like that. Or some shapeshifter got him and took his place.”

   He then asked “Who was that speaking?”

   “My friend Kamala. I thought it was going to be a good idea to have someone with me when I spoke to Simon, and since she was the one who found out how to find him in the first place she was my first choice.” There was a momentary pause and Cassie went on to say “Sorry, but Kamala's begging me to let her talk to you and I've said that if it's okay with you she can.”

    This was the first time since Philip had come to this world that someone had actually heard of him and wanted to talk to him. “Sure, why not.”

   “Hello? Oh, God, you're the Swordsman! I can't believe I'm speaking to you! I've spoken to three Avengers today! This is so awesome! I never thought this would happen to me! Is Magdalene here with you? Can I say hi to her too?”

    He had to admit to being impressed with this Kamala. Not only did she know who he was and that he had been an Avenger, she also knew about his connection with Mag. “Let me ask her.” He put down the phone and said “Guess what. Cassie's friend wants to talk to you.”

    Her face lit up. “Oh, of course I can! Put me on.” She was smiling as she picked up the phone. “Hi. Kamala, you said your name was? I can't believe that you know who I am. Yes, I hope I can meet you too. Cassie wants to talk to me now? That's fine.”

    Philip walked away for a moment, glad that he had not been able to follow through on his decision to give up looking into this mess. Cassie more than anyone else besides maybe Pietro deserved to have the truth be brought to light. She should not have to spend the rest of her life blaming the wrong person for what had happened to her father.

    When he got back, Magdalene was saying “So Saturday is good for both of you? Great. We'll meet you there.” She ended the call and looked at him. “They want to come and speak with us about what they've found out. Cassie said that she had something very important to share with us, but she didn't feel safe talking about it over the phone.”

    “I can understand that. I just hope that whoever has been messing with our minds doesn't get to either one of them before we can talk.”

    “So do I, Philip. So do I.”

 

* * *

 

   Cassie was giddy as she made her way back home, with Kamala at her side. “That wasn't how I expected things to turn out, but it worked in our favor anyway. I can't wait to tell them about Dad.”

    “And I can't believe that I'm going to meet two more Avengers. Before long if I keep going at this rate I'll have met the entire team before I hit seventeen!” For her own part, Cassie hadn't even known who Philip and Magdalene were before today. While even before Dad had joined up she had known the names of quite a few Avengers, she lacked the encyclopedic knowledge that Kamala had. So while there wasn't any proof that the two of them were who they claimed to be, she thought that if someone was trying to lure them into a trap they would have picked a name she would know.

    “I just hope that whatever it was happened to Simon doesn't happen again. I don't think we're going to be able to get another source like that again.”

    “I'm crossing my fingers.” Kamala stopped for a second. “Do you think this could be some kind of trap?”

    “I think that if it were, then they would have used people that I knew instead of just you. Why would you spring a trap using the names of complete strangers?”

    Dad then could be faintly heard saying “If there is trouble, then I'll do what I can to help. Not sure if I'll be quite as much use since I'm still stuck like this, but I don't want you going alone.”

   She said after that, “Dad wants to come with us when we meet Philip and Magdalene. I also think that we should get somebody else to come with us, just so there's another body around.”

   Kamala asked “Do you have a preference for who comes? If you don't, then I'd like to bring Eli. He's good at reading things, and that'll give us an idea of how we should go from there.”

   “Eli's my choice, too. Also, my mother knows him and probably won't have a problem with me going to see him.” By now they were at Cassie's home, and she added “Remember that we're going to meet at the same Burger King we were at today. I have my first class pretty close to Eli's, so I'll talk to him before we get started. See you tomorrow, Kamala.”

   “Goodnight Cassie. See you then.”

   And for the first time since she had started living there, Cassie Lang walked into her mother's home with a sense of hope for the future.

 


	14. One Word

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cassie and her friends meet with Magdalene and Philip to plan their next course of action.
> 
> Meanwhile, Bonita and Wanda meet Mrs. Altman, but one word changes everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anyone who might be reading this who is from New Jersey, I must apologize, but your system of roads is indeed baffling.
> 
> This is the chapter I've most looked forward to writing, and I hope that you will enjoy reading it just as much.
> 
> And for anyone who recognizes the name mentioned in this chapter, yes, it is deliberate.

    Eli was eager to go and meet up with Kamala and Cassie. The day after they had gone and met up with Wonder Man they had both been excited to tell the story of what had happened. In and of itself, the meet-up hadn't worked out the way they wanted it to. He hadn't been able to answer any questions Cassie had about what had occurred on the day that her father had supposedly died. “Whenever I brought up certain things, he just shut down. I thought that I was going to have to just give up, but then someone called him, and Dad was able to get the phone number. Well, it turns out that it was another Avenger that I hadn't heard of who was trying to reach him, and he along with another unknown are looking into the same things we are. Kamala and I agreed to meet them on Saturday, but we're a little worried about it.”

    Kamala then added, “I know the names we were given are those of genuine Avengers, but there's still a chance that this is some kind of trap. So we decided that we wanted to have a third person with us in case of trouble.”

    Cassie gave her a look. “Fourth.”

    “Oh, right, fourth. Anyway, I know that you're good at sizing things up, so you are the one we want with us.”

    "Well, I'm glad that you trust me so much. Where do you want me to meet you, and what time should I be there?"

    "The Burger King near my house, and try to be there around noon. Do you think that you'll have any problems with that?"

    "No. I'll just tell my parents that I'm going to meet up with you and Kamala, and that should be fine. They know enough to trust me when I say I'm going someplace."

    "That's good. I'll see you then. Can't wait to see you, Eli."

    Now he was coming back in from his morning run. Up until his bike accident, Eli hadn't been all that much for running. But two major factors played a role in why he had gone and changed his mind on that issue: first, it was a bit easier to avoid falling when you were running than it was when you were sitting on a bike, and second of all there had been some changes that he'd felt afterwards that he couldn't fully explain.

    Eli had been baffled as to why it felt like his family was paying so much attention to him following the accident. Yeah, it had been pretty scary to realize that you'd managed to open up one of your arteries, but the doctors had been able to fix him up in the end. At first he thought the reason his parents were so concerned was because they hadn't been there when the accident happened, having gone away for the weekend. That was the reason it had been Uncle Josiah who had been the donor when the call to give blood had gone out.

    But it wasn't until he was playing soccer with some of his friends later on that he realized something was different about him now. He had noticed before that he wasn't getting quite as tired as he used to when exerting himself, but it was such a subtle thing that it hadn't made a big difference. It was different when you were going and running around the soccer field, because he could remember how long it had taken before he needed to take a break before. Eli noticed that now he could play for longer, and that he was moving faster than before. After he was done, he made a vow to check this out more carefully.

    In the end, the results spoke for themselves. Eli could run faster and for longer distances, was able to life up things that had been too heavy for him before, and overall was improved in all of the physical things he could think of. When he'd come to that realization, he had gone to the only person that he felt would be able to listen to him without jumping to conclusions: his grandfather Isaiah.

    Grandfather was one of the people that Eli felt knew how to listen more than anyone else. While for the most part he got along with his parents fairly well, but there were times when he thought they were being foolish or too rigid in not allowing him to do certain things. And it was helpful sometimes to go and talk to an adult who might have had experience in the same thing, but who didn't have the personal connection a parent did.

    What he had learned that day would change everything for him. Grandfather wasn't surprised about the changes he had undergone, because he had been through the same thing back during the war. “They needed volunteers for a special project, and I was one of the ones who chose to go. They explained that we were going to be part of an important aspect to national security, and we would get compensated for our time. I remember rooming with a Polish man who didn't speak all that much English. He had a name that was so hard for me to pronounce – Gronkowski, I think it was. Anyway, every few days one of us would go and get a shot of something, and then we would have to do a whole bunch of things you normally did in basic training. I ended up being one of the ones who stayed the longest, and once it was finally over I was told exactly what was happening.”

    The explanation had been unbelievable to Eli. The reason he had been asked to volunteer was because he was one of the test-subjects for the Super-Soldier program. Grandfather had lasted longer because he was the one who had gotten the final formula, the one they knew would produce the results intended. He hadn't ended up being made public for two reasons. The biggest was because he was black, and a good portion of the country would have rejected the pinnacle of human perfection being such. A lesser reason was due to the death of Dr. Erskine following the administration of the formula to Steve Rodgers. With no way of replicating the results afterwards, the focus was shifted towards the idea of Captain America instead of creating a unit that would consist entirely of enhanced soldiers. Besides, none of the other subjects had kept their abilities for too long, so Isaiah had been told his new skills weren't going to last.

    But last they did. It had been years before he accepted that he was not going to revert to normal, and he'd watched to see if his children would inherit his skills. And while Josiah had, Sarah had been entirely normal, so Grandfather had never thought Eli would turn out the same way. “It must have been when your uncle gave you his blood. Something about that made you like me.”

    While there had been a brief period of temptation to use his skills to best everyone else in sports, Eli had ended up following both his grandfather and Captain America's example. He'd limited himself to running track, and was secretly pleased when he didn't always win. He knew that as he got older there would be more chances for him to use his talents for good, and still debated over whether or not he should join the army like his uncle and grandfather had.

    “Nice to see you back in Eli. What are the rest of your plans for today?”

    “Hi, Dad. Right now I'm going to meet up with Cassie and Kamala. You know that things have been for Cassie since all the stuff with her dad happened.”

    George Bradley nodded. He had been updated on what had happened when Cassie had been made to go and live with her mother, and the subsequent death of her father. “I'm glad she still has you around to help her out. I still find it so hard to believe that her mother was able to get custody of her, after she was gone from her life for so long. Have they made any progress with their relationship?”

    Eli sighed. “No. Cassie says that most of the time her mother ignores her, and when she tries to say anything about how she feels it either gets shut down or it ends up in a big fight. I think by this point she's given up on making things better.” He left out the part where her dad was now hanging out in her bedroom, and that they were making plans to challenge the initial court decision. Besides the fact that it would sound completely crazy to say “Oh, by the way Cassie's dad is alive, but he's still too small to be seen by the naked eye, so he's living in her room now,” it also wasn't a good idea to get more people to know about that. Kamala had said that she hadn't told the Swordsman and Magdalene about Mr. Lang, and they weren't sure if it was going to come up in their meeting today. Maybe if they decided that they were trustworthy enough...

    “Well, when you meet Cassie today tell her that she can come over anytime for dinner if she wants. Your mother and I want to help her out in whatever ways we can.”

    Eli smiled. “I'll be sure to tell her. She knows that you and Mom care a lot about her. Thanks, Dad.” He refrained from adding “You care more than her mother does,” because it didn't feel appropriate. He did plan on asking Cassie over when this was all resolved. She needed a little normalcy in her life.

    Having plenty of time, Eli took his time in getting to the meeting spot. He knew that part of the reason was that he still couldn't be sure that this wasn't some kind of trick. Yes, Cassie had a point in saying that if you were planning on trapping someone then you would be more likely to use the name of someone who she knew. However, a more well-known personality would also be someone she would recognize the voice of. At least they were meeting in public, so if something went wrong help could get summoned fairly quickly.

    When he walked into the Burger King, he could see Kamala sitting at a booth, waving to him. Eli took a seat and asked "Do you know when they're going to get here?"

    "Cassie and her dad, or the Swordsman and Magdalene? Cassie sent me a message saying she should be here any minute now, and I'm not certain when the others are going to come. Magdalene said that they would be here at lunchtime, but I should have asked when that was going to be." She looked so upset that Eli went right away to ease her worries.

    "If they'd wanted to be more specific, then they should have given you more information. I'm pretty sure that most people have a basic idea about when lunch is supposed to be. I'd say we give them until one, and if they haven't shown up by then we should just leave." He heard the sound of a door shutting, and could see Cassie walking over. Kamala and him waved to get her attention, and with a quick glance she headed on over.

    "Sorry I wasn't able to get here sooner. My mother kept asking questions about the both of you. I think my stepdad must have said something about looking into the people I'm spending time with, because I really can't see her asking me about anything otherwise. Looks like nobody's ordered anything yet. I promised Dad a french fry, so even if you guys aren't hungry I'm going to get something."

    Kamala said "We're waiting for the others to show up."

    And with those words two unfamiliar people, a man and a woman, walked in the door. The man was looking around for them, and when he spotted Cassie he could be seen leaning into the ear of the woman. They both made their way over to the booth, and the woman was the first one to speak. "I recognize you, Cassie, and I'm guessing this is Kamala. And who would you be?" she directed at Eli. Her tone wasn't confrontational, but more curious.

    "I'm Eli. I'm friends with both Cassie and Kamala. I wanted to come with them today because of what I know about what's happened so far. If someone could do all this to the Avengers, then what could they do to people like us?"

    "Nice to meet you, Eli. I'm Magdalene, and this is Philip. You're right about how things could go. What with how things ended up with Simon, it never hurts to be too careful. At least now we know why he wasn't getting back to us."

    They sat down, and Philip said "When we last spoke, you said that you had been looking into what happened at the mansion. Did you start looking into things because of what happened to your father, or was there something else that brought you here?"

    The three of them all looked at each other, weighing their options. Cassie was the first to speak, saying "At first I didn't even think about looking into what happened with Dad, because everything seemed so logical. Then one night in my room I got a surprise." She took a deep breath. "Dad's alive."

    Philip and Magdalene both had their jaws drop. As the shock faded, she said "I guess that it shouldn't be a surprise to us. After all, one of the things that bothered me was that no one had tried to go and collect whatever remained of Scott. Whoever's been doing this must have known that he was still alive. If they could make Simon forget about us, they could make everyone not think about Scott."

    Cassie added, "That isn't the only thing that's been going on with memories. Until I got to talk to Dad again, I thought that it was completely true that Wanda didn't remember her children and hearing about them drove her mad. But he said that couldn't be true, since after Jan said that she spoke to him about how insensitive it had been to bring that up. I know that because he talked to me about it afterwards. And I somehow had that memory taken from me until I was told about it."

    Philip then said "Simon said something very similar, that he'd forgotten about all the times Wanda mentioned her children until his mother brought it up. He also said that there had been another time when his memory had been affected in the same way, but he didn't give any details as to what happened then."

    Eli had a question of his own. "How did you decide to look into things? I don't think either one of you is close to Wanda, and even though Kamala assures me you're both Avengers I don't think that you're all that close to them. So what brought this on?"

    "Well, it really all started when Mag and I were talking about what happened that day, and had questions about why things had gone the way they had. When we examined things closer, everything didn't add up, and then out of nowhere this strange woman appeared in front of us, telling us to go check the ruins. So we went to the mansion, ran into Simon, and found a photo album that Vision got for Wanda last Christmas. And the only pictures that were in it were ones that were either of her children, or her kids with other people. That's when we knew that she couldn't have lost her mind from hearing about them, because if she did then why didn't the photo album trigger it? And why was it we couldn't remember her getting it before we found it?"

    Magdalene then said "And if that part of the story wasn't true, then who was to say any of it was true? The little things that were bothering us before fell into place then. From that point onward I knew that there was someone else who was responsible for all this, even though we had no idea of who that might be.”

    Eli then asked “But how did you know that it was Wanda who was being held responsible for this? I'm guessing that she didn't leave a note or something behind, and I don't think it's likely she said she was the one who did this.”

    “We were told by someone that she was the one who did everything. But Philip and I can't remember what exactly was said. Just another sign of how things are going wrong.”

    Kamala was the next to speak, and said “How do you think that they're doing all this? Do they have some really good mind-control powers, or is something else going on?”

    Philip shrugged. “I have no idea at this point. We've looked into people who were working against the Avengers in the past, but none of them seem to be capable of anything on this scale. Magdalene and I wondered if it could even be someone who has connections to the team in some way.” He then turned to Cassie and asked “Where is your father right now? If he's alive, why isn't he here?”

    “Actually, he is here. The reason that no one else knows he's alive is because he's still stuck shrunken down. Dad's looked over his equipment again and again, but as far as he can tell there's nothing wrong. We've talked a bit about getting a hold of Hank, but since that's the first place anyone would think to look for him he doesn't want to risk it. I think the chances aren't that high that someone's going to be looking for him, but so far nothing that has happened has made any sense.” She got up. “Which reminds me, I promised Dad that I would get him a french fry, so I'm going to get some food.”

    “A french fry?” He sounded like this was hard to believe.

    “Trust me, at his size that's way more than enough. Anyone else want me to get them something?”

    Philip handed Cassie some money and said “Let us take care of this. I'm already afraid that we're putting you in danger by meeting up like this. If Simon was so easily pushed aside, what chance do a group of ordinary teenagers have?”

    There was a subtle look that Eli could see in both Kamala and Cassie, something that told him the Swordsman's words might not have been entirely correct. Neither said anything about that, and as he gave Cassie his order he wondered when it might be a good time to bring up the matter.

    Once everyone was settled down and eating, Cassie introduced a plan of her own. “So from what I can gather, you've both been looking at people who might be likely to try and cause trouble for the team, correct?”

    Magdalene nodded, and also said “We've also been on the lookout for anything else that might be unusual. So far, the only big thing we've seen has been the lack of work being done on the mansion. It's been such an important part of the Avengers since the start, and just leaving it in ruins feels so wrong.”

    “Okay. One thing that I was thinking of was what ended up happening. They lost two members, even if Dad wasn't really gone. But he was pushed out of the way for a reason, whatever that may be. But I know for a fact that Vision was destroyed, and so far no one's gone and done anything about that.”

    Kamala interjected with “I know that everyone's always thought of him as being just as human as the rest of us are. And I bet most of us would go and do almost anything to bring back someone we loved and lost. So I'm guessing that just forgetting Vision is somehow part of the overall plan here.”

    Cassie indicated her agreement. “Here's the thing: if you were planning on framing Wanda for everything, who do you think would be the first to stand up for her? Her brother, naturally, but he would be easy to dismiss. Vision would be the one that wouldn't accept the story, and there could be a chance that what's been happening in our minds isn't so easy to do with him. If I'm right, then he's the key we need to prove Wanda's innocence in this.”

    Both Magdalene and Philip were listening intently to what she was saying. Eli had a good idea of what her next words were going to be, and Cassie proved him right a second later. “So I think that we should go and try to restore Vision in some way.”

    Philip said “I think that if we'd known where Tony was keeping him then we might have tried that ourselves. But we couldn't just go and ask him without it looking strange.”

    “But it wouldn't be strange for me. Uncle Tony wouldn't have any problem with me asking just because I wanted to know. He knows what I'm like, and that wouldn't be a surprise. If we could get him out and back to life then we'd have a big ally on our side.”

    Eli asked “Does anyone know what they've done with Wanda? I think that if we could go and speak with her it might give us some clues, even though I'm not sure they're going to allow us to do so.”

    “Simon asked Steve where she was being kept after we met up for the first time. He told him that no one knew where she was right now, because she escaped from where they were holding her. So that rules out that path.”

    Eli thought about it for a little while, and then said “Do you think there's a chance that she's gone and tried to get Vision back?”

    Magdalene was the one to answer him, saying “I doubt it. I think that would be one of the first places they would have looked for her, and I don't think that they would have told her where they were keeping him in any event. But I'm not willing to completely rule the option out.”

    Cassie said “Then this is what I think we should do next. I go and talk to Uncle Tony about Vision, and then we go and see about going and repairing him.”

    Philip nodded, but he also said “Who do you think should be the ones to do that? I'm afraid if Mag and I try to go and get him that we might end up drawing attention from the wrong source, or that we might get in trouble with the Avengers. We're both on the fringe of the team anyways, and if we got caught it might ruin everything.”

    “So then let us do it. Me, Eli, and Kamala can go with Dad to wherever we need to go, and we probably won't draw as much attention as some adults would.”

    He did not look happy to hear that. “Just the three of you and Scott? I don't like it. There's too much of a chance of getting hurt.”

    "Well, what if we brought in some other people? Would that make a difference?"

    "Maybe. It would depend on who they were."

    "I've got another friend who would be willing to help us out, and I know she's a good choice for something like this. I think we can get someone else as well, but I'm not as sure about them."

    Philip and Magdalene looked at each other. "Can you give us a moment?" Magdalene said.

    With a flurry of nods, the two got up and walked away. While they were talking, Eli asked Cassie "I'm pretty sure that the first person you mentioned was Kate, but who else were you thinking of?"

    "I was talking a little bit with Kamala about what to do next, and she suggested getting Miles involved. I wasn't sure about that since I don't know him all that well, but she's assured me he's a good choice."

    “Yeah, Miles has helped me out with a bit of a personal dilemma I've been having. I kind of feel like I owe him something, and I think he'll have fun going and doing this.”

    Eli by now was almost certain of what Kamala's problem had been, although he wasn't certain how Miles was able to help her. While he had no plans of bringing up the topic, anything else he might have said was interrupted by Magdalene and Philip returning to the table. She was the one to speak, saying “Okay. Here's what we've decided. Before we make plans for who's going on the recovery mission, you need to make sure that you've spoken to Tony and know exactly where we should be going. Based on the location, we'll decide if you guys should be the ones to go or if it would work out better for us to be there.”

    It sounded like a fair compromise. “And if we are the ones to go?” he asked.

    “Then we're still going to want to be close by. I'll give you our number, and if something goes wrong then you need to call us right away and we can go from there.”

    Eli and Kamala looked at Cassie, waiting to see what she would decide. She was either thinking about what to do or was listening to Mr. Lang give his opinion on the situation. At last she said “That's fine.”

    “Then it's settled. Tell us when you've spoken to Tony.”

    He hoped that things would allow his friends to attempt the mission. Eli was starting to get a bit of an idea of what his path in life might turn out to be, and he hoped that he would be able to test it out soon.

    And so they ate, waiting for the time to take the next step.

 

* * *

 

    “Again?! Who designed the roads in this state, anyway?”

    Bonita had heard about the fact that you weren't allowed to pump your own gas in New Jersey, something that struck her as being ridiculous. Why could people in all the other states manage the task, but New Jerseyians couldn't handle it? But as she was now learning, that wasn't the only thing that was crazy about driving in this place.

   The flight out to Newark had gone as well as she'd hoped. She still wasn't exactly certain how Wanda had been able to board the plane without a valid id. Either she had made them think that she'd already shown it or she'd made something else look like an id. Wanda had felt guilty about doing that, saying “I wish that we weren't on a time limit. I know the sooner we get to Anna Altman the better, but using my magic for something like this feels so wrong. I wonder what Stephen would say if he knew.”

    It was one of many times Wanda had mentioned that name, and this was the first time Bonita asked about it. “Can you tell me a little bit about Stephen? I've heard a few things, but I've never met the man before.”

    “Stephen is... He's hard to define. He works so hard, and never seems to get enough time for himself lately. But he always will come if you need help with something magical, unless he's off on some mission of his own. He was the one who helped me when I was pregnant, and I think that's one of the reasons I haven't tried to contact him yet. I don't remember what was said when he showed up at the mansion, but I know that I felt so hurt hearing what he said that I didn't try to reason with anyone. I still admire him a great deal, and hopefully when this is over I'll get to introduce you to him.”

    “I'll look forward to that.” Her words about not remembering what exactly had been said were a relief to Bonita. She had been bothered by not recalling how they had been told of Wanda's role in everything, and now she could put that into the category of things that were happening because of Robert.

    She'd been able to get a car for them, and from that point onward they hit the road. And that was where the insanity began. One of the first roads they needed to turn on came up, and Bonita was prepared to go and turn left. But that wasn't an option. Instead of directly turning onto the new road, she had to go and turn right, go the other direction, and then get on the new road to go through the lights she'd passed earlier. “Do they just think that everyone who lives here can't handle potentially running into oncoming traffic? Is that why you can't make a left turn here?”

    Having lived in New Jersey for a time, Wanda could only say “I don't think that I noticed a larger percentage of poor drivers than you would find anywhere else. Maybe they're just trying to lower the risk of accidents?”

    “And by doing so increasing the chance of a random driver losing it one day after taking too long to make what should be a routine left turn?”

    She shrugged, and they went on their way.

    Now there was another non-turn that needed to be made, and Bonita was getting aggravated by this point. According to the directions she had gotten, they still had around fifteen miles to go, and they'd had to backtrack on one road because it was one-way, and the point to reach the street they needed to be on was behind where they had entered. “I'm half wondering if the reason this Anna was chosen by our enemy was to drive us mad from having to drive and get to her.”

    Wanda said “You could let me take over for a while.”

    Bonita knew that she meant well, but said “Without a license? It would be too dangerous if we got pulled over.”

    “I know. But I just feel bad about leaving you to handle this by yourself, especially since you're not familiar with the roads.” Wanda kept looking around as she spoke, the tension in her body clear to see. She couldn't blame her – who knew what they were going to find at their final destination?

    It was now getting dark, and she said “Try and keep an eye open so I know when we should be turning.” It would have helped if they had a GPS, but the car they had been able to get didn't come with one and neither had thought of getting one before traveling. They had printed out directions, so they weren't going into this completely blind.

    “I will. Let me know the name of the next street so I can tell you when I see it.”

    The name was given, and Bonita drove for a while without saying anything. She listened for when Wanda told her to turn, and by the time night had completely fallen she was heading onto Spring Hill Road. “We're almost there.”

    She wished she could say that she was confident that things were going to turn out fine, but there were too many variables to be considered for things to work out. What if Anna just turned them away, or she had already been attacked? What if they could gain access, but were unable to convince her that there was danger coming? Worst of all, what if this was a trap and she was in league with this Robert Reynolds?

    “Here. We're here.” Wanda broke her out of her reverie with one sentence. The home of Anna Altman looked just like all the other homes in the neighborhood, but didn't seem to have a great deal of personal touches. There was nothing growing near the house, and there was only one sign of children living there: a sandbox that could be seen as they got out of the car and started walking down the driveway. There was at least one room that was lit up, so someone was at home.

    Bonita took a deep breath, and she rang the doorbell.

    At first there was no response, so she rang it once more. Whether that did the trick or if she'd already been en route to open the door, it came open a crack. “Yes?” The woman answering the door sounded so nervous that Bonita wished there was some way of easing her fear.

    “Hi. Are you Anna Altman?”

    There was a long pause. “Why do you need to know that?”

    She had to think of the best way to put things. “I know that this seems unexpected, but my name is Bonita Juarez. This is my friend Wanda, and we've come here because we both have reason to suspect that you and your family might be in danger.”

    The reaction to these words wasn't the shock that Bonita had expected to see. Instead Anna appeared to be weighing her options. She looked at Wanda, and Bonita had a feeling she knew who she really was. “What kind of danger are we talking about? Who sent you here?”

    Wanda was the one to answer this time. “I know that this will sound crazy to you, but both of us had a dream of a man coming after you. He said something about stopping a threat, and while we both know the man's name neither one of us knows who he really is or what he might want from you. He's also been responsible for a variety of other incidents recently, and Bonita and I need to find out where he is. I know that you can help us. Please, may we speak to you?”

    Anna shook her head. “I don't know if I can do that...” She trailed off. “Too much danger.”

    “If you are in any kind of danger, then I swear to you we'll help you. You do know who we are, correct?”

    She looked Bonita directly in the eyes. “I know who you seem to be.”

    “Then you should know we can help. I can tell you're in trouble, even before we learned someone was going to come after you. Is there anything that we could do to make you feel safer?”

    That changed something. The door opened further, and Anna said “You can come inside.”

    There were several things that Bonita noticed when walking inside. First of all was several children's toys lying on the floor of the living room, but second was the lack of anything that would tell her about Anna. It was like the secrecy that seemed to come from her mannerisms followed her in other things. There was a couch and a chair in the room, and when their host sat on the chair Wanda and Bonita sat on the couch.

    Anna then said “I'm sorry for how things are. I thought that you might be people from my past.” There was confirmation that she was aware of some kind of danger, but whether or not that danger connected to their Robert was still unclear. “Can you tell me the name of the person who might be after me?”

    Wanda answered “Robert Reynolds.”

    She shook her head. “I've never heard of anyone with that name, or someone who goes by that name. And I don't think that you know anyone who is called that, either.”

    She had to confirm what she suspected. “So you know who we are.”

    “Yes. You're Firebird and the Scarlet Witch. I have looked into some of the enemies the Avengers have faced in the past, but I don't believe there's been anyone by that name. And I don't know why he might want to go after me.”

    It was a bit disappointing to hear that Anna also had no idea who their opponent might be. Bonita asked “If you haven't heard, the Avengers recently were victims of a coordinated attack that left two of them dead. Based on what we've learned, this Robert Reynolds is the one who has caused all this trouble. Even if you don't know anyone by that name, do you at least know someone who might be capable of doing something like that and also have some manner of grudge against you?”

    The answer was far too quick. “No.” It couldn't be the truth, since she'd earlier said that she'd been afraid they were people from her past. Even if she hadn't said anything like that before, her current body language spoke of agitation. Anna was wringing her hands, and her eyes kept darting around the room. “There's nobody.”

    Wanda then said “Maybe it would help if you could tell us something about you. What do you do for a living? Where is your family from?”

    While Wanda may have thought that these questions might be a little easier, Anna didn't agree. “Me? I'm just a person getting by. I'm from nowhere. There's no reason anyone would want to hurt me. None.” She got up and glanced over to the stairs, saying “I thought I heard one of the children get out of bed.”

    Her words were normal, but for Bonita they added to her sense of something being very wrong. When talking about her children, she had referred to them as “the children”, rather than as being her own. She guessed that there was a chance that she was just caring for them, but why? And if they weren't her own, how had she gotten placed with the responsibility of caring for them?

    Bonita then asked “How old are your children right now?” Perhaps that would be a more fruitful avenue to pursue than questions directly relating to Anna.

    Anna sat down once more, with her eyes still darting around. She said, after a pause “Around five – ” before she was cut off by the sound of someone coming downstairs.

    Wanda was the first to see the new arrival, and as she watched an expression of confusion grew on her face. Her hand went over her mouth. It wasn't clear as to why this would be the case at first, since as far as Bonita could tell the boy standing there was an entirely normal child. He had red hair, was of normal height and weight, and seemed to be around five, like Anna had said.

    It was interesting how he looked nothing like his mother. She had blond hair and a fairer complexion than him, although she knew that it was possible for a blond parent to have a red-headed child. But their faces didn't seem to have anything in common, and she wondered if he just resembled his father. Yet there was something about the child that struck her as familiar.

    The next few minutes would stand out in her mind as being the point where everything changed. The boy had been looking in the direction of the women, and it wasn't until one fateful word was spoken that Bonita realized it wasn't Anna he had been looking at.

    Anna opened her mouth and said “What are you doing out...” but she was cut off by the sound of him speaking.

    Standing there, looking directly at Wanda, he said one word. “Mommy?”

 


	15. Family Ties

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The truth of Wanda's children is finally revealed, and Anna shares her own story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It should be pretty clear that the timeline I'm using here doesn't reflect how Marvel did it, but this is both what works for my story and a resolution that I feel happy with.

    Upon hearing that word, Wanda couldn't breathe for a moment. She had noticed the resemblance of the child to her own boys, but hadn't really thought that there was even the slightest chance that he could be Billy or Tommy.

    He kept on moving, walking down over to where she was sitting. “I knew you'd come get us, Mommy. I kept trying to see you, but you weren't there.”

    Anna kept looking between the two of them, still looking shocked. “Tommy, what are you talking about? Is Wanda really your mother?”

    Tommy nodded. “Yup. I can remember when the bad man came, and then we came to you and Teddy. Mommy tried to help us, but she couldn't get there.” He sat down on the couch next to Wanda. “Where's Daddy? I've heard him at night sometimes, but I can't see him anymore. I want him to stop being sad about us, but I can't stay with him.”

    This was all seeming too good to be true. She still wasn't able to fully accept what Tommy was saying as being true. “What do you mean you've seen Daddy?” Had he somehow been able to see Vision?

    “Sometimes when I go to sleep I see Daddy. He's sad on our birthday, even when we're happy. Billy likes it if I tell him about seeing him, 'cause he misses Daddy too. I saw you sometimes Mommy, but you couldn't ever see me. Daddy did a couple times, but he didn't know it was me.”

    She looked Tommy over. He looked so much like the boy she remembered, yet with all that had happened she could not allow herself to think that her boys might be safe. What if this was all part of the plot to make her look mad? “Billy? Is your brother here?”

    “He's sleeping. I heard Aunt Anna talking when I went to the bathroom, and then I came down and saw you. I'm glad I was up.”

    Bonita seemed to be as stunned as Wanda was. She asked Anna “What is going on here? What is Tommy talking about when he says that he came to you?”

    Based on the way Anna was behaving, she had clearly had no idea who Billy and Tommy might have been. “Let me get something.” She walked over to a closet in the hallway, and brought out a blanket that Wanda knew right away.

    The blanket had been a gift from Steve shortly after the twins were born. It was a dark blue color with a pattern of stars adorning it. For the most part it had been put to use during feeding, but once the boys grew old enough to have a blanket it had taken up residence in their crib. After she had lost them, Wanda hadn't even noticed for a while that the blanket was missing. She could recall having seen Billy with it earlier on that fateful day, and beyond that the issue hadn't concerned her all that much.

    Her fingers ran over the blanket as she blinked back tears. “My boys. They're safe. They're _here._ ” And she held her arms open, upon which Tommy jumped in them.

    For a period of time there were no words spoken, merely a mother and son together after so long being parted. She could see that Bonita had a few tears coming out of her eyes, and Anna was silently crying. Tommy was first to break the silence, asking “Why are you sad Mommy? You found us.”

    “I'm not really sad, Tommy. I'm just so happy that I have to cry a little. I never thought that I would see you again.” She tried to keep herself from crying more, not wanting to make him feel bad.

    Anna then looked at Wanda and said “I'm so sorry. I had no idea who Billy and Tommy were. I would have returned them to you if I had known. But they were so young, and they couldn't tell me anything about their parents except for little things that didn't help me to identify you. Please forgive me.”

    “You have nothing to be forgiven for. I'm just so grateful that you were there to help them.” The idea that there might have been a chance of her children being out on their own made Wanda shudder. Under those circumstances, they would have certainly died for real.

    Bonita finally asked the question that was left unsaid. “But how did you come to find Wanda's children? And why didn't you go and speak to the authorities about them?”

    She looked down, and sighed. “It's a very long story, and I don't know if it will help to tell you all of it. But I can share what happened with Billy and Tommy that night...”

* * *

 

_It was well past sunset when Anna began to settle down for the night. Teddy had been particularly fussy at dinner, and he had resisted being put down to sleep for longer than normal. She wasn't certain if this was normal for a child of his age, and wished she knew more about what to expect as he grew._

_Anna knew that she needed to get out with Teddy more. The only person she had become even vaguely close to since they had arrived here was Rebecca Kaplan, and she still wasn't able to share very much with her. Rebecca had given her the names of some places that would be good for a mother and child to go during the day, but she'd learned that many of them wanted some kind of information. Having no ID, no social, and nothing to indicate she existed at all, Anna only went out for occasional walks with Teddy and trips to the store to get food._

_Maybe there would be a message tonight. They'd only gotten two since getting here, and the last one hadn't sounded very good. As each day and week went by without hearing anything, she became more and more convinced that the worst had happened. But what could she do then? Anna had been told where she might be able to turn to, and while they would certainly help out Teddy she might not merit the same consideration. So she waited._

_One of the windows in the kitchen was open, and she could hear some sounds coming from outside as she walked in to get a drink. Anna glanced over the fridge and hoped her contact would be able to meet with her soon. The money she could bring would make a big difference, especially since there was no way for her to obtain legal work. She was going to leave when the sounds seemed to grow clearer._

_Making her way to the window, Anna tried to see if she could see into the backyard. There was nothing that was clear to her, and she would have just left without checking into things if it had not been for that one word making itself clear: “Daddy!”_

_With the instinct that any parent has upon hearing those words, Anna raced outside. As she headed to the back, she now could hear the sounds of sobbing coming from near the fence. “Hello?” she called out._

    “ _Mommy! Daddy!” The cries of a child carried her over to the source of the noise. Sitting on the grass were two boys who were close to Teddy's age. One had brown hair, the other red. They were clinging both to each other and to a red and blue blanket that was also on the ground._

_She couldn't figure out how they had gotten here. It might have made more sense if they were somewhere in the front yard, because then there would be a chance that someone could have put them there from a passing car. But there was no road behind her home, and she hadn't heard any cars going by for some time. It seemed unlikely in the extreme that two children as small as them could have gotten very far on their own, and she had never seen them before. If they belonged to any of her neighbors, she likely would have gotten at least a glimpse of them._

_"Hello, boys," was all Anna could think to say. "What's wrong?”_

_They turned to look at her, and in between sobs only could say "Mommy gone!”_

_"Your mother is gone? Where did she go?”_

_The brown-haired one said "Bad man. Mommy cry. Gone.”_

_She didn't think that either one could tell her more than that, given their young age. "What are your names?”_

_The boy who had spoken before said "Billy”, and the other responded with "Tommy.”_

_Without thinking twice, Anna reached out and picked both of them up. Based on how they felt in her arms and the way they were dressed, she guessed that there had to be someone looking for them. The talk of a bad man confused her. If someone had taken the two boys for whatever reason, then why had he chosen to leave them here?_

_Billy said as they walked into the house “Want din.”_

    “ _Oh, I'm sorry! Let me get you something to eat.” Anna put down the children on the floor and went to get some of the food she'd gotten for Teddy. She would have put them in chairs, but the only high chair she had was Teddy's and she didn't want to wait for too long to feed both of them._

_Tommy was the more voracious eater of the two of them, and he said at one point “Daddy fly.” He was pointing towards the spoon that held his sweet potatoes. She wondered if this had been part of some game their father had played with them when they ate._

_After they were fed, Billy and Tommy soon drifted off into slumber. Anna tried to think of what to do next. For the time being she could keep them in with Teddy, but at some point it would become necessary to find their parents. Her heart went out to them, imagining the pain they must be going through. Careful not to disturb the current occupant of the crib, she put both boys inside and headed off to get some sleep herself._

_Her plan was to wait until she could get some more information about where the boys came from, and then drop them off at a safe place near their home. But as the days went by, Anna saw no stories in the papers about any missing children, and there was no talk from Rebecca about anything like that as well. Since just going around and asking people whether or not they had heard of any missing children just wasn't done, Anna could only go and wait for some news._

_Days grew into weeks, and weeks became months. It wasn't as hard she had first feared it might be to take care of three children instead of just one, and Teddy accepted his new playmates without too much trouble. Only Rebecca questioned her about the new arrivals, and she told a story about how they were her sister's children, and she was now responsible for them. The last part she feared to be true. After hearing absolutely nothing for so long, Anna began to suspect that Billy and Tommy's parents were no longer alive._

_As they grew older, both boys were able to give her some clues as to their previous life. It was clear to her that they were brothers, and based on them being the same age she was certain they were twins. But that was never confirmed. What they did tell her were little bits of information that didn't help with identifying who they might be._

_While not owning a computer or television, Anna did have a radio that she normally kept tuned to a news station. One day, while waiting for a commercial break to end, she started flipping through stations, but Tommy exclaimed with delight on hearing a chord of music, “It's Daddy's music!”_

    “ _Daddy's music? What do you mean by that?” She half wondered if this meant their father had been a musician, but the next part dashed that idea._

    “ _Daddy always likes to play this music. He hums like this when he hears it.” Tommy tried to imitate the sound. “Sometimes he played it when we were sleeping.”_

_She guessed that what he meant was not that the music had been played while Tommy was sleeping, but rather that his father had put it on in order to help them sleep. The specific piece that he had called his Daddy's music she would later learn was a song by Miles Davis called “So What”, and Anna from that point onward sometimes tuned into the jazz station for Billy and Tommy._

_Another time where music played a role in telling her something was at the store. A song that she'd heard a few times made Billy say “Mommy likes to dance to this song. Daddy always holds her and they dance around.” The song this time around was called “The Lady in Red”, but she wasn't sure of what the meaning of that might be._

_Both of the children took to calling her “Aunt Anna”, and this helped out with the story she put forward about how they had gotten here. There were times when they would become upset over missing their parents, and Billy at one time said “Daddy was all funny before. He didn't know us.”_

    “ _What do you mean by he didn't know you?”_

    “ _Daddy went away, and then when we got to see him again he didn't say things the same way. I bet it was the bad man.” Anna still hadn't been able to figure out anything about the so-called bad man, except that he had said that the boys belonged to him. “And then the other lady came, but she shouldn't be there.”_

    “ _Why?”_

_Billy shrugged. “She just shouldn't be.”_

_Tommy was the one who made some of the strangest remarks, such as coming down one morning saying “Mommy was real sad last night. She was crying about us. I wish she could come find us.”_

_Anna said “Tommy, you were dreaming. You can't see people when you're sleeping.”_

_He had been adamant that this had really happened. “She was there. She was looking at our clothes and crying. I tried to talk to her, but she couldn't hear me.”_

_She opted to not press the point of not being able to speak to people in dreams. If they helped Tommy feel better, then Anna saw no issue with that._

_Over the next few years, Tommy would continue to bring up having seen his parents at night, but when Anna tried to question him about the details she never learned anything that would help her to identify them. Billy did not seem to have the same thing happen with him, as he would typically ask his brother in the morning if he "had seen Mommy and Daddy" last night._

_Anna hoped that at some point she would be able to figure out who the twins' parents were, but she grew more afraid of the prospect as time went on. What if the parents came out and accused her of being the one to kidnap their children? How could she explain the lack of any paper trail in her life? What if any publicity caused the wrong person to find her and Teddy? So she did not try to see if there was anyone who might have been looking for them. She felt guilty for not trying harder, but what other alternatives were there? And the lack of any news of two missing boys around Billy and Tommy's age supported the idea that there was no one left to find them._

_As time went by, it became harder for Anna to get by. Her main source of income was cut off due to her situation changing, and while she did have some savings they weren't always enough to support three children. But when she got to the point of thinking she had no other choice but to get outside help, something would happen to keep her from doing so. Anna was relieved when things worked out, because she knew that without any papers getting a job would be impossible. While her contact had given her advice on how she could get around such an issue, she felt guilty even thinking about it. And it was getting closer and closer to the time that all three of them would be expected to start school. How could she do that, not without some kind of problem arising?_

_Lately things had gotten stranger. There were times when she felt like she was being watched, but she could never see anyone. Anna just chalked it up to paranoia, but one day after she had finished a shopping trip with the boys Teddy pointed and asked her "Mommy, who's that?"_

_When she looked in the direction he was pointing at, she could see a man staring at them. Something about the gleam in his eyes made her frightened. As quickly as she could, she shepherded her family back to their home. Whenever she looked behind her, the man could still be seen. The most frightening part of the whole ordeal was that he did not appear to be looking at her. Rather, it was Billy and Tommy that he was watching the entire time._

_From that day onward, Anna never took the children out with her when she ran errands, or just when she wanted to get a cup of coffee. It was one of the times she was grateful to have become friendly with Rebecca, because then she didn't have to worry about whether the danger of leaving the children alone was worse than the risks of taking them with her. And one night, when she was least expecting it, two people showed up at her door..._

* * *

 

    After Anna finished talking, there was a long period of silence. Wanda was still holding onto Tommy, who by now had fallen back asleep. She was a morass of emotions. If it hadn't been for Anna taking the twins in, then they would not have been safe for so long. Yet she still wondered why she had not gone to the authorities at any time. Some of the things she had said about not having papers made Wanda believe she was in the country illegally, but missing children would be a far greater priority for law enforcement than a person living in the US without authorization. Her talk about someone finding her implied that she was fleeing some kind of danger with her son, so if Anna was trying to avoid some type of persecution it might go a long way to explaining why she had not felt safe going to the police.

    The first one of them to speak was Bonita. “But what I don't understand is how come you never tried to get some kind of outside help. I mean, if for whatever reason someone had found out that you were keeping two children you just found outside one day, wouldn't the trouble you would be in for that be even worse than what would happen if they found out you weren't supposed be here?”

    Anna looked down. “It's more complicated than you might think.” And then something neither Bonita nor Wanda was expecting to see happened. Anna looked up once more, and they watched as she seemed to melt into an exact replica of Wanda, and then changed into Bonita. Her final transformation was into a Skrull woman, and then she was back to her usual appearance.

    Well. This was certainly a new wrinkle. Wanda at last said “What brought you here to Earth? You've said that you're in danger. Who is pursuing you?”

    Anna sighed. “It's not me, it's Teddy. Although I doubt that we were to be discovered that I would be left alone, what with who I know.”

    “Your _son?_ Why would someone want to harm him?”

    “Because Teddy isn't my child.” She looked so upset that Wanda wanted to go and try to soothe Anna, but she did not want to wake up Tommy. Bonita, having no such restrictions, did go to her side and kneel down in front of her. “That's in part how our troubles began – Teddy being born changed everything for the Skrull Empire.”

    Bonita looked up at her and asked “What was so important about him?”

    “Teddy is the child of Princess Anelle and Mar-Vell of the Kree. After the war between our people, they met up on several occasions, and soon became lovers. And before news of Mar-Vell's death came to us, Anelle had discovered she was pregnant with his child. People knew who the father was, of course – the two of them weren't always discrete. So Teddy was born, and I started to work for his mother, helping out with him while she did what she needed to do. And then the homeworld was destroyed. We were able to escape, along with some others, but there were so many losses. Anelle was now the ultimate leader of our people, but some were growing reckless. The idea of a half-Kree boy being someday named leader did not go over well with some, and many of the outlying worlds rejected her authority.”

    Anna let all that sink in before going on. “So one day, when Teddy was around nine months old in your time, Anelle sent for me. She said that there were too many factions building within the Empire, and she was convinced they were planning on striking at some point soon. She wanted to keep her child safe, and she charged me with taking him to Earth and caring for him until it became safe for us to return. Anelle promised to talk to us as often as she could, and gave me the name of an agent she knew was working here then. We got enough money to get this house, and that's where we've been ever since.”

    Everything by this point was starting to fall into place. The only part that confused Wanda somewhat was why Robert (she hadn't gotten confirmation that he was the one who had been following Anna, but given her dream she had little doubt he was the man) had been going after her children. She guessed that he might have felt that his plans to make her seem insane wouldn't work out as well if there was proof Billy and Tommy had not only existed, but were still alive. There was a possibility that he might have also been keeping Anna from seeking out help, but there wasn't really anything that pointed to that other than him causing trouble.

    "Well. That's certainly a story. So Anelle didn't get you any kind of documentation prior to you coming here?" Bonita chimed in with what had to be an important question. Why wouldn't Anna have been given something to establish her here?

    "There wasn't enough time. Everything happened so suddenly. I've only spoken to Anelle twice since we got to Earth, and both of those times were in the first few months. I'm afraid the worst has happened."

    "Then you believe that Anelle is dead."

    “Either dead or imprisoned. The last time that we were able to talk she said that her forces were outnumbered and it might be a while before we could speak again. I know for a fact that if she were able to speak to us, she would have done so by now. It killed Anelle to have to send her child away, even though it was the only option to save his life.”

    “But why didn't you go and seek out the Avengers? Even if Teddy wasn't Mar-Vell's son, there's no way that someone in such need would be turned away.”

    Anna sighed. “Fear, I would say. I had never met anyone from Earth before coming here, and I didn't know what to expect. And later on, once Billy and Tommy showed up, I was afraid that they would be upset that I had just kept them instead of doing something to try and find their family. I couldn't look all that far, so I don't think that I would have made the connection between them and Wanda in any event.”

    Wanda noticed that Anna was doing her best to not look in her direction as she spoke. Was she feeling guilty for having kept her children from her for so long, even if it wasn't done intentionally? Making an effort to try and reassure her, she said “I can tell you that once we have found our opponent and have made things right, Bonita and I will be making sure that the Avengers do whatever we can to give you and Teddy a place here. Tony could connect you to the right people, and they could get you legal status here. Then you could find work, send your son to school – all the things you should be doing instead of living so isolated. You talked a bit about Rebecca. How much does she know about you?”

    “Nothing at all. I just deflect any questions she has about where I come from or about the rest of my family. Billy did say something funny about her once. He told me 'I'm glad I met Mrs. Kaplan now instead of before.' I couldn't figure out what he was talking about. I still don't.”

    It wasn't something that she could explain either. With her arms starting to fall asleep, she asked “Would it be alright if I took Tommy back to bed?”

    Anna replied with “Of course you can. Let me show you the boys' room.”

    She followed the woman upstairs, and took in her first glance of the room. There were a good deal of things there, including a poster of the Fantastic Four and several stuffed toys. She could also see a set of bunk beds and a single bed, in which a boy with blond hair lay sleeping. The lower bunk was empty, and that was where Wanda placed Tommy, next to a stuffed hippo.

    Billy. He had to be in the top bunk, and she stood on her toes to see him. He had the brown hair as she recalled, and he did not stir as she looked upon her second child for the first time in years. Her children. Here. Safe.

_Alive. Real._ Now she held the ultimate argument in the matter of her sanity. Anna had not met her until today, and she hadn't been likely to have heard anything about her pregnancy, since she wasn't even on Earth then. If when Bonita and her were able to produce evidence of Robert Reynolds to the Avengers, she no longer had to fear being cast aside. Her family was with her.

    The only hole in her heart right now was the absence of Vision. She wished that she could run to him, and tell him that his sons were alive, that he no longer had to grieve their loss.  _Soon,_ she vowed.  _Soon we'll all be together again._

    Kneeling down, Wanda placed a quick kiss on Tommy's forehead. “Goodnight. Mommy loves you.” She repeated the gesture for Billy, and walked over to where Anna had been standing, watching her. Her expression was a mirror for how Wanda was feeling right now. She knew at that moment that no matter what the biological relationship was between her and Teddy, Anna loved him as her son. They should not be separated.

    Trying once again to keep herself from crying, Wanda looked Anna directly in the eyes. “Thank you. You've given me the greatest gift anyone could give.”

    “I was afraid that you might be angry. That you would think I had kept you from your family for too long because I was afraid to come forward.”

    Her next words needed to be chosen carefully. “I do wish that you'd come to us sooner, but I can understand why you didn't want to get help. And it's not just because of the twins. You love Teddy so much, and a part of you feared they would take him away for safe keeping, didn't it?”

    Voicing her unspoken fear gave Anna the ability to look at Wanda directly. She nodded her agreement. “For all I knew they would just go and find a safe place for him, and not do anything for me. I didn't think there was much of a chance of that happening, but what if by going to them I brought the attention of the forces working against Anelle to us? If something happened then, I would never be able to forgive myself.”

    “That could happen. But from the day we first chose to join the Avengers, we all knew that there was a chance of being seriously hurt or even killed. We've lost teammates along the way. If something happens because we were trying to protect a mother and child, we all would agree that it wouldn't be too big a price to pay.”

    Anna asked “Do you think we should go to them now?”

    Now she had to explain things a bit more. “Right now that might not be possible. The attack against us that Bonita mentioned earlier? Everyone but her and maybe Pietro thinks that I was the one to do it. The team was told that when Jan made an insensitive remark about Billy and Tommy at one point it caused me to remember my children and lose my mind. But I did remember them, and I most certainly haven't lost my mind. For whatever reason, this Robert Reynolds wants people to think that I'm unstable, and to cause harm to the Avengers. Both Bonita and I are certain he's going to come after you, but we don't know when or how.”

    Anna listened to what she was saying, and added “My contact here was telling me a little while ago that I should go to the Avengers when I told her about feeling like I'm being followed. I only saw the man once, and unfortunately I can't tell you what he looked like. I do wonder why if he's been following me he hasn't tried to go after me yet. Could there be something keeping this Robert from striking again?”

    “My guess would be that there has to be something, or we would be seeing more trouble. Bonita and I were attacked a while ago, but we haven't seen anything since then. If only I knew more about who this Robert was then I might be able to understand what he's doing a little better.”

    When they returned downstairs, Anna asked “Where are the two of you staying?”

    Bonita responded with “We don't know. When we found out you were in danger we just took off to try and warn you. I never went as far as thinking about what we would do next.”

    “Then I'll solved that problem for you. Stay here. The couch folds out, so you'll have a place to sleep tonight. Tomorrow we can look into what to do next.”

    For Wanda, tomorrow was also going to be the first day in so long that she would be able to be with her children. She couldn't wait.

* * *

 

    Billy knew that he was better at staying in bed than his brother was, which was why he got the top bed. Tommy was always getting up when he heard something downstairs, sometimes saying “Maybe it's Mommy and Daddy!”

    He really wished that someday it would be them. It was funny that he could remember things about them, since Teddy couldn't tell you anything about when he was really little. But both Tommy and him knew stuff about their parents. Teddy's daddy had died a long time ago, so he didn't know much about him other than what Aunt Anna said – he had been a hero who got real sick. She didn't talk about him much, even though Teddy liked to hear about him. Billy didn't know why.

    The stuff he could remember didn't go together like stuff did now. He could still kind of see Mommy and Daddy in his head, and he knew about the music Daddy liked a lot. If he thought real hard, he could remember Mommy looking for Daddy, and Daddy being all funny-looking afterwards. There was a lady who shouldn't be there, but he didn't remember what she said. Then came the part that he and Tommy could remember really well, the bad man. He wanted them, and grabbed them, and then it all got dark...

    After that was when Aunt Anna found them. And they'd lived with her ever since. From that point Billy couldn't remember much until he got bigger, like three or so. And nobody came to find them. If Tommy didn't say that he'd seen their parents he would have thought they didn't love them much. If they did, then they would have come to take them home.

    Tommy didn't always see them when he slept. He normally did on their birthday, or Christmas, but other times just happened. Most of the time he tried to talk to them, but they never could hear him. Last Christmas he said he'd seen Daddy give Mommy a present, and then she left crying. Billy didn't know why. Getting presents was supposed to be fun.

    He could hear his brother moving around, and knew that he was up. “Did you see them last night?”

    Tommy sounded so happy when he spoke. “I saw Mommy! But I wasn't sleeping! She was here, for real!”

    It was the best thing he could ever have heard. Billy flung himself down to see his brother, and asked “Where was she? Did she say anything about Daddy?”

    “No. She didn't think she'd ever find us, but she saw our blanket and cried. She said she was happy, but I don't think she should be crying then. Her hair's different, and there was another lady with her. Mommy called her Bonita.”

    Billy really hoped that it was true. He had dreams sometimes about seeing Mommy and Daddy, but his weren't like Tommy's. Whenever he tried to say something, they just kept getting farther and farther away. Sometimes the dreams felt so real he started crying when he woke up. Maybe Tommy had a dream like that too.

    Teddy was downstairs already, and he was talking to a lady Billy didn't know. “And that's when the castle fell down. But we'd gotten the good guys out, so the kingdom was saved.” He looked at them. “Hi. Mommy says we have visitors. This is Ms. Juarez. She's an Avenger.”

    Billy knew that the Avengers were a bunch of heroes, but he didn't know what most of them looked like. It would be easy if they could have a TV like Mrs. Kaplan did, but Aunt Anna never got them one. Sometimes there were pictures in the papers, but he didn't get to see them much.

    “Hi, Ms. Juarez.” Tommy was pulling on his arm, and he let his brother drag him into the kitchen where he could smell breakfast.

    Aunt Anna was making pancakes, but that wasn't the best part. There was somebody with short black hair sitting at the table, and a face that Billy knew he would never forget. He charged over there, yelling “ _Mommy!_ ”

    Mommy opened up her arms, and grabbed him so tight he thought he might not be able to breathe. “Billy. It's so good to see you again. I came in to see you and Tommy last night, did you hear me? I can't wait to tell Daddy all about you. He's going to be so happy.”

    “Where's Daddy? Why isn't he here?” Tommy had let his brother go to their mother first, but now wanted to make sure his questions were answered.”

    “Daddy's been hurt, and I don't know where he's staying. And right now there's a little trouble, so I can't go and find him. But I know that as soon as he can he'll be coming to get you.”

    “Mommy, why didn't you come get us before?” She was so happy now, and if she'd been so sad before then shouldn't she have come and got them?

    “I didn't know where to find you. I thought that you were gone forever, and so I never thought that I should be looking. But I came to see your Aunt Anna, and I'm very glad I did.”

    He thought of something else that he wanted to know. "Is Daddy still all funny?"

    Mommy kind of blinked, and then said "No. Before, when you saw him last, he'd gotten hurt and sometimes that makes people act differently. Now he's back to the way he should be."

    Tommy also had a question. "What about the bad man? Is he gone?"

    Her face got all scrunched up, and she answered "Yes. He's gone, and he's never going to come back. No one will ever take you away again."

    Billy now wondered where they were going to be staying. "Mommy, where do you live?"

    "Well, I normally live at the Avengers mansion with Daddy. Do you know where that is?" He nodded. "But right now it's been destroyed, so I've been living with Ms. Juarez for now."

    "Is that we're going to stay now?"

    Mommy didn't answer for a little bit. "I don't think so. I think Daddy and I are going to want to find a place that's going to be good for all of us. Once we've gotten some things sorted out, then we can go think about where that's going to be."

    It made sense that Aunt Anna wasn't going to be with them, since she wasn't really their aunt. Billy hoped Daddy would be with them soon.

    Mommy kept on talking. "Do you remember your uncles Simon and Pietro? Or your cousin Luna? They're all going to want to see you again.” Both boys shook their heads. The names sounded a little bit familiar, but Billy didn't know anything else about them. “Oh, and your Grandma Martha. I wish I had pictures to show you of everybody. I have so much to tell you about your family.”

    Hearing the words made Billy and Tommy smile. Aunt Anna and Teddy were nice, and Billy knew he loved them, but it wasn't the same as having your own family. And soon they would be meeting Daddy, and all those other people Mommy had talked about.

    And for the first time in many years, a family was beginning to repair itself from the losses they had suffered long ago.

 


	16. The Story of a Hero

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The story of a man who wanted to be a hero, and how he chose to do so.

    It's a question that people might think about during their idle moments: what would you do if you could rewrite the world?

    Most of us would probably go and make some changes in our own lives, fix problems that couldn't be solved on one's own, and test out the limits of what one could now do. But in the end for most people there wouldn't be anything too earth-shaking going on. Even if you are deeply unhappy with the way your life is going, the idea of making yourself ruler of the entire world isn't going to seem all that great to most people. Overwhelmingly people just want to go on with their lives.

    For the Sentry, Robert Reynolds, the day that changed everything started out like any other. He got up, got ready, and headed off to work. He was an IT person for a local business, and for the most part would have described himself as being content with his life. True, he hadn't been able to find someone to spend his life with yet, but he was confident that things would work out eventually.

    Maybe he had lingered a little too long over his coffee, or had been slower than normal in the shower. Whatever it was, as Robert drove on to work he realized that he was constrained for time. “Please don't let me hit traffic or a red light,” he said as he glanced at the clock.

    His wishes did not come true. A red light on a busy street led to a delay that was too great to be overcome. Robert realized that while he was now ten minutes from work, he only had five minutes to get there. “If only I hadn't gotten that red light,” he lamented.

    And just like that, he was pulling into the parking lot. There was now more than enough time to make it in, and he couldn't think of how that had happened. Dismissing it as just being one of those things you can't explain, Robert went about his day like normal.

    The second time it happened, he was waiting in line to get a cup of coffee. Like most mornings, there was a long line of people waiting to get their dose of caffeine, so a long wait was a given. He started to wish that he could get there and place his order sooner, and that was just what happened. He was at the front of the line, and no one there seemed to have noticed him jumping ahead. All he did was get what he had come for, trying to figure out what had happened.

    The third time was at home, and this time it was on purpose. The baseball game Robert had been looking forward to watching was going through a rain delay, and the weather report didn't hold out hope for it being able to continue. He almost flipped the channel before remembering the other occasions. So he imagined the rain stopping.

    And it worked. Everything dried out, and the game went on as planned. While watching, he made a vow to look into this ability more closely.

    For the next few months, everything in the world worked in his favor. Every issue at work was one that could easily be solved, he didn't get sick, and minor annoyances were casually brushed aside. And if this had been the limit to what he did, a great deal of trouble could have been avoided. But one day, he was watching some sports highlights when a clip of Super Bowl XLII played. The sack, the interception... Why hadn't things turned out in the Giants' favor?

    In a flash, Robert opted to test his new power even further. Could he change the outcome of those plays?

    He waited, thinking of how instead of a sack there would be a last-gasp throw, and then a catch. After a few moments, he went to Wikipedia to see what the entry on the game now said. And it had worked. Robert became even more excited when he remembered that he'd placed money on that game, and had lost when the favored team came out on top. Checking his bank account, there was now an extra thousand dollars in there. He jumped with delight, seeing all manner of possibilities before him.

    From that day onward, he tested something new every day. The first thing he did involved Rick, one of the people his desk was close to. Rick and him sometimes went out for a few drinks after work, and on a day they had planned to go out an idea occurred to him. Could he do anything to other people? So Robert decided to have him forget about their plans.

    This was only partially successful. Rick didn't talk to him for most of the day, and when he did there was no reminder of their plans. At the end of the day, he poked his head around the corner and asked “Ready to go?”

    Disappointed at his failure, he said “Just give me a moment.”

    Rick's next words came as a surprise. “You know, I almost forgot we were going out tonight. It wasn't until Louise mentioned Carlo's that I remembered we were supposed to meet up tonight. It just came back to me at that moment. Isn't that strange?”

    He agreed, and pondered the issue for the rest of the night. Would Rick have recalled anything if he had not been reminded of their plans? He vowed to test things more.

    The next time he went on a different path. Normally Sheryl called her mother on Wednesday afternoons, to see how she was doing. He pushed any thoughts she might have about making the call away, until later in the evening. Then he struck up conversation with her, talking about a book he had read recently. When he said his mother had also enjoyed the book, she gasped. “Oh God! I forgot all about Mom! I need to call her, now. I hope she doesn't think that I've forgotten all about her!”

    After multiple experiments, Robert was able to tell a great deal in how he could influence people. While it was easy to make someone forget something, a reminder of what it was they were forgetting would bring the memory back in full force. After exhausting the arena of memory, he moved into emotions. Making people feel things was trickier. If someone was completely placid, it wasn't very likely that he could stir them to rage. The best way to affect feelings was to work with what was already there, and then take steps to modify it. The results in that case typically were much better than just trying to make someone feel something. Usually he would try and make people feel positive emotions, but on the occasions that he did invoke negative feelings he always tried to make it up to the person afterwards.

    How long he would have continued down this path was unknown, because one weekend things changed yet again. Robert was working on moving in a new set of shelves that he had recently purchased, but they were heavy and he was getting tired.

    “Wait a minute,” he said to himself. “If I can change things that happen and can modify things in other people, why can't I just go and change myself?”

    He didn't want to try and make himself stronger right away, just in case that wasn't within the range of what he could do. His test involved changing the color of his eyes instead. And it worked. With a smile on his face, Robert changed back and began to work on making himself stronger.

    And that was only the beginning. Before too long he was giving himself something new every day. He could read minds, fly, could run faster than the average person without trying, could lift up a truck with one hand, wasn't affected by heat or cold, and healed faster from any injury or illness he may have gotten. All of these things made him swell up with pride, and if there were people around him who were muttering about how different Robert seemed he just sent their minds in another direction. That was something he would never have thought of doing before he'd discovered his powers, but he was not able to see how he was becoming something different.

    Perhaps if he had thought more about where his powers might be coming from, he would have paused before using them so much. Then maybe he wouldn't have found himself using them so often. But it was like a drug: the more he changed things, the more he wanted to do so. He still put effort into things, but he was just as likely to think about having a take-out meal than to actually take the time to order one. After a while Robert decided to make it so he needed less sleep and food, so that he could spend more of his time doing what he wanted to do.

    It had been one day when he was looking at the paper that the new path for his life became clear to him. The article he saw was about the Avengers and their latest mission, and upon seeing it Robert started to feel guilty. He had been given this incredible gift, but so far he had only used it for himself. He needed to pursue a higher purpose, a way of serving others.

    He would become a hero.

    It took a little while before he was able to get some kind of costume together, and once that was done he waited for the right time to take action. The name he picked out for himself was the Sentry, a good choice for one who was going to be watching over everything. He couldn't wait to establish himself.

    Unfortunately, things were not as easy as he planned. He gave himself the ability to sense danger, but it was far too strong to get any real readings until he forced it down to a more manageable level. So the first problem was finding trouble to deal with. And once he was finally able to locate some problems, a dilemma came up that he hadn't planned for at all.

    No matter how quickly the Sentry tried to make it to the scene of any trouble, someone always beat him to the punch. Whether it was a team of heroes or just an individual, he wasn't the one who could get the credit. Yes, there were times that he could have worked with others to help out, but that was not an option he liked. The Sentry wanted to be thought of as a force in his own right, not just an interchangeable piece among the larger community of heroes.

    Perhaps this desire to be important came from something in his psyche that had bubbled under the surface for so long. Maybe it was a result of whatever had granted him his powers, but the Sentry didn't just want to be a standard low-tier hero like so many others. No, he was going to be one of the best, someone who everyone looked at and said “This is who keeps us safe.”

    In order to enact his agenda, there were a few steps he took in the beginning. First of all, he resigned from his job. If he needed something, he could either create it or just get himself the money in some manner. Spending time working would take too much time away from his ultimate goal. (He did make certain that they had a good replacement for him, not wanting to leave everyone in the lurch.)

    Based on what he knew he could do, the Sentry contemplated just making people think that he had always been a major hero, but that idea was shot down for several reasons. To start with, since people could have their memories brought back by having something remind them of the way things had been before, he would then have to change so many other things in order to prevent that outcome. And since forgetting even one article or picture would send him back to square one, it wasn't a wise choice. Also, there was a part of him that knew such a path would be unsatisfactory. The Sentry wanted to  _earn_ his exalted position, not have it handed to him.

    So after much thought, he decided that the only way to get what he wanted was to make certain that there were no other heroes to take the spotlight away from him. If no one else could beat him to the punch, then he could really start making a name for himself. At some point he planned on seeing who among the more prominent members of the hero community might serve as allies he could use, but right now the goal was to find ways of forcing people out of the job.

    The Sentry did not start right away. First of all, he needed to take some time to observe how the various teams operated. That would give him an idea of where it might be best to start. Understanding the dynamics of the people he was going to replace would make it easier to take over from them. The initial plan was to watch for a year or so, and then evaluate the situation again. But just like so many other plans one makes in their life, everything was turned upside down in a moment.

    One of the things that came up near his home every year was a carnival that he liked to go to. There was something fun about eating all the junk you wanted, playing games where you had almost no chance of winning, and riding the rides for hours. There was only one new thing this year: a small tent set up for a fortune-teller. He rolled his eyes a bit at the idea, thinking there was no way to tell the future. He had tried to do so, but hadn't seen any results. But there was a kernel of doubt in his mind. After all, before all these things had started happening to him the Sentry would have said there was no way you could change the world to suit your needs. If that was possible, why not someone being able to see the future? So he decided to give it a try. Worst case, he'd be out a few dollars.

    The woman sitting in the tent was dressed casually, wearing jeans and a t-shirt. “So you've come to see what lies in store for you.”

    “Yes.” He said no more, not wanting to give out something that could be used to manipulate him.

    “Well, then let's get started.” She didn't bring out any cards or crystal balls, instead looking the Sentry over as if she was trying to memorize him. “You've made some changes in your life lately. Left your job. Changed your name? That's a surprise.” It was an even bigger surprise that she knew how he had taken to thinking of himself as being the Sentry as opposed to Robert Reynolds. All the people who knew him still called him Robert, but that title was an artifact of the man he had once been, not part of his new life. “Got big plans. Let me see how those are going to turn out for you.” She put her hand on her chin, and was quiet for a period of time. “Ah. Interesting.”

    “Well? What is it?” He wasn't in the mood for anything like this. Either he got a straight answer or he would leave.

    “You will be able to succeed with your plans only if you can stop your defeat.”

    That made no sense. He would succeed if he wasn't defeated? Wasn't that how it always worked? “What do you mean by that?”

    She seemed to go into a bit of a trance, and said “The children of the Vision and the Scarlet Witch will be your undoing.” And with those words she went back to normal.

    He paid, having at least been given something to think about. The children of the Vision and Scarlet Witch? How could they even have children? Maybe it was meant in a more metaphorical manner. He decided that he would try to observe them and see what he could see.

    But what he saw was his worst nightmare. The witch was pregnant, and from all he could hear somehow the robot was indeed the father of her child. When the successful birth of twin boys became known, the Sentry knew that something had to be done. Unless he could get those children out of the way, he was never going to be the foremost hero in the world.

    The idea for how to best accomplish this came from a bit of a movie he had seen once. In the film, a woman was made to think she was going mad by having people act as if her family does not exist, and are only products of her delusions. The Sentry didn't want to truly make Wanda Maximoff go insane – he just wanted everyone to think she was mad. Then he could take care of the children.

    Wanda herself helped a bit when she mentioned an Agatha to her boys as she was giving them a bath. “She would be so happy to see you now, but I bet she knows all about what Mommy and Daddy are doing now. She taught me so much, and I hope I can help teach you later on.”

    That was enough for him to start poking into her mind. Soon learning both who Agatha Harkness was and what had happened to her, the Sentry tried something he had never imagined: bringing someone back from the dead.

    It wasn't successful. He'd wanted her to appear right in front of him, but no matter how long and hard he tried it never worked. When he tried a second person, someone he knew who had died more recently, not only this time was he not successful but the Sentry was able to feel their indignation at being taken away from a place where they were happy. Attempts with animals worked no better, and he was forced to concede that he had found another limit to his powers. Something else needed to be done.

    The next idea he had came to him when he was thinking about his failures. He had been able to touch someone's spirit the second time. Why didn't he just try to bring that forward, instead of the whole person, body and soul?

    So he reached out to bring the spirit of this woman into the world again. As he watched, a fog began to form in the room, and soon that fog began to coalesce into the shape of a person. This Agatha did not look happy as she said "Now what in the world do you want with me, young man? I have been getting a chance to finally catch up with those I lost so long ago. Marya was just telling me a funny story about the time Wanda decided to bake a cake without vanilla, so I do hope that you ask your questions and let me be."

    He already had decided that he did not like her one bit. "Questions? Hardly. I need your form, your voice. And since apparently I cannot return you to life then this will have to do. I need someone who can say the things I need to be said. When I wish, you will go to the appointed spot and do as I say."

    The Sentry could hear a snort of disbelief. "And how are you going to do that? I could just stay here and bother you for a while instead."

    He soon demonstrated his power for her to see. Agatha didn't seem to be any more fond of him than he was of her, but with what he was capable of she had to obey him at least in part. (During a rehearsal of what was to come, the Sentry found it was harder to make her do things than it was for other people. He resolved to look into this further, but for now came up with what was a fairly reasonable solution.)

    And then the perfect time to strike came. The family he was closely watching had moved out to California, helping with the West Coast branch of the Avengers. He kept an eye out for when he could make his move, and one night the perfect opportunity came about. The Sentry had known about what the Vision had done during his relatively brief tenure as leader of the Avengers, and suspected that there would be consequences for his actions. Being taken and dissembled wasn't exactly what he would have expected, but there were always some surprises in life.

    He wondered if taking action while Vision was still incapacitated would work out best for him, but then realized he would be unable to affect his memories if he went now. So the Sentry made sure he would know exactly when the Avenger was returned to a semblance of life. The outcome here was slightly impacted by his own actions. He'd seen during the repairs that Vision was going to have issues with his memory, and from there he changed things around so that while he would remember everything, he would no longer have any emotional attachment to the memories.

    With one obstacle out of the way, the Sentry looked for other sources of danger. Wonder Man was the first one he pushed aside, and then it was time for the grand show. He felt a certain delight at making Agatha's spirit arrive, and having the others hear what he wanted them to hear. From that he planted a seed, a seed of doubt about Wanda's sanity. It didn't matter if there had been plenty of times when she was absent and others had seen the twins. Just hearing something like that was enough to get the idea into people's heads, and from there he could push more and more. After all that was said and done, the only thing left to do was to get his ally to finish up the job.

    Since he had come into his abilities, the Sentry had learned a great deal of things he had never thought he would know. The fact that there were such things as demons was one of them. His only encounter with Master Pandemonium had been so brief that he doubted the man would remember him later on. Yet that brief meeting had given him the chance to do what had to be done.

    Out of everything the Sentry had done, he could only point to genuine regret in what had happened to the two boys. For a time he had considered taking them out on his own, but couldn't stomach the idea of causing harm to innocent children, even if those children would be the cause of his defeat. He had a good idea of what was going to happen upon Master Pandemonium finding the family: he would try to take back the two “demon souls”, and when he realized that this was not working he would lash out. And thus the threat to the Sentry would be ended.

    How things actually ended up turning out wasn't on his radar. He'd thought that the children would be destroyed in a more conventional manner, and when they were absorbed into his ally it came as a shock. For a little while he wondered if he had been able to make the story he had told reality, but the reaction of Agatha put that idea to rest. “Such rubbish. I know perfectly well how Thomas and William came to be born. I would guess that you were the one responsible for everyone taking those words at face value?”

    “Be quiet, witch. Why haven't you left this world yet? I am through with you. The threat is ended.”

    She gave him a pointed look. “Haven't you learned one of the most fundamental lessons of magic yet? Do not bring up that which you cannot put down.” And she vanished.

    The Sentry hoped that this would mean Agatha Harkness was gone for good, but he had read too many stories to trust in that being true without proof. What he opted to do would help him even if her spirit refused to return to wherever it had resided before. He made it so that she could not ever share the truth about the children to anyone else. That should be enough to conclude the issue.

    The temporary madness of the Scarlet Witch was also something he hadn't planned for. He might have felt worse about it if he hadn't looked at her mind and seen that she would recover in time. Overall the Sentry would have just taken this as a bump in the road if it hadn't been for the dammed witch blocking the memories of her sons from her for a time. That proved that she was not going to go away anytime soon, and that would lead to more trouble along the road.

    He would try everything he could over the next few years to get rid of Agatha's spirit. But no matter what he did, she would always return. At one point she told him “I will not leave until all matters have been put right.”

    “How?” he asked. “Can your magic return the dead to life?”

    Naturally, there was no answer.

    The Sentry also took time to look into the various ways a person could have special powers, but mainly focused on magic. He still didn't know if that was the source of his powers or not, but what interested him more was the resistance that a magic-user had shown to the use of said powers. He documented any instance he could find of people who were known to use magic, and one name kept coming up again and again: Stephen Strange. So that was the person he next put his mind to following.

    At first, there was only one thing of note he could see: the fact the man clearly liked his drink. Weaknesses such as that were things the Sentry had always felt indicated a weak overall character, and while he was apparently capable of going about his life without too many aftereffects from it he still knew that at some point Strange's weakness would show itself.

    Before too long, the Sentry realized that Doctor Strange was more and more often falling into episodes of utter despair. While there were times when he just kept going forward, it was becoming more and more likely that he would resort to the bottle to get himself through the trouble. Naturally, this was something that offered short-term relief but only served to make things worse in the long run.

    By now, he had fully discarded the idea that Doctor Strange posed any type of serious threat to his plans. He had shown up during the attack on the Avengers, and the Sentry had been able to make all those present hear what he wanted them to hear. He had been somewhat concerned that something might trigger the memories of those who heard, so he also made it so that no one would clearly be able to recall the exact words spoken, save for the fact Wanda was the one who had done everything. For Strange, it hadn't been easy to have him forget. If it hadn't been for him being used to having gaps in his memory due to drinking, then he would have gone and looked closely as to why that was so. Well, before too long his weak mind would make no level of alcohol sufficient to carry out his duties. Then he would be truly rid of the man.

    Right now his biggest concern was the Vision. No one had taken any action to restore him as of yet, but what bothered the Sentry was that he could not work with his mind while he was in such a state. And even worse had been the visitor that he had sensed coming.

    Over the last few years, the idea that the children might have somehow lived through Master Pandemonium's attack had never crossed his mind. No one had come forward with anything to the contrary, and how would have such a thing been possible? The children were good and gone, and that was that.

    Yet he had felt a distinct presence during one of the times he had been checking up on Vision. It felt exactly like his son Thomas. The Sentry had been shocked. How could that be possible? The boy should have been long dead by now. He probed further into the source of the presence, and was not happy with what he found out.

    The children had lived. Somehow they had wound up in the care of one Anna Altman, and she had taken responsibility for them up to the present day. He had been curious to know why she had not gone and told anyone about her discovery, and the answer had been yet another surprise. Not only was she on the run, she also was an alien to their world. Her life was centered around those she cared for, and she was too afraid to reach out to the Avengers for help. And his sense of danger had almost certainly been triggered by Billy and Tommy being still alive.

    He'd followed them a handful of times. The last time, he'd been spotted by Mar-Vell's son, and had sent Anna fleeing for her life. Now whenever she went out she left the children behind, either from realizing they were the reason she was being followed or just a desire to protect them. So he now limited himself to as much remote surveillance as he could. Trying to directly focus on the Altman home did not work, and he did not know the reason. Instead he had to watch Anna whenever she went out.

    He hoped that there would come a time when he could strike properly. The twins were going to have to go, as would Anna (there was no way she would take the Sentry's attacking lying down), but he did hope that Teddy could be left alive. The child had nothing to do with his plans, and deserved a chance to make it out. Before he had taken too many chances in eliminating the threat to his plans. The time for minor actions was gone. If he needed to step over people to get where he needed to be, then that was what had to be done.

    A tiny part of him knew that he would have never acted like this before he got his powers, and suspected that things had become worse with how often he used them. But that part was far too minuscule to make a difference. 

    He wondered how the Vision was doing. Had he encountered his son any other times, and if he did had he realized what was truly going on? If he did learn the truth, then there would be a new danger if he were to ever be restored. The Sentry knew that no matter how much he pushed to keep him out of the minds of the other Avengers, at some point he would come back to them. When this happened, he needed to make certain that it was done under his terms, because if he could not get to the robot's mind before he returned to consciousness keeping the blame for everything on the Scarlet Witch would become much harder. And that could cause the entire house of cards to come tumbling down.

    Maybe it was time to go and check up on Vision again. It was somewhat amusing to see him living in the past, trying to recapture the memories of a time when he had a family around him. Despite what he had said, he had clearly never gotten over the loss of his children and marriage.

    With a smile on his face, the Sentry took off.

* * *

 

    Vision wished that he could tell how much time had passed since he had gotten those mysterious visitors. The voice that had shown up on multiple occasions was the one that worried him the most, because he was certain that he was the one who had caused all the trouble for the Avengers. It was painful to have to stay waiting, not knowing whether or not the team was under attack or if there was anything he could do to help. The last encounter had been cut off by the man getting upset over something that he said he had taken care of. But without any other details given, one could only speculate as to what that might have been.

    If there was some way he could try and assist his team, he would have gladly done so. Even just being able to send out a warning to beware of this man might be the linchpin to success. But when Vision tried to see if he could even activate some type of message, nothing happened.

    "So. You've let go of the past for now, I see."

    The same voice he had heard before was back, with the usual mocking tone. Turning in the direction of the sound, he asked “What do you possibly hope to gain from tormenting me?”

    For the first time, Vision was able to see the man who had caused all this harm. He did not appear to be anything remarkable, with no elaborate adornments to his costume. His features as well as his apparel weren't familiar, but the look on his face was one of utter scorn.  _“Tormenting_ you? My dear Vision, if I wanted to torment you I would have shared far more about what was necessary to be done. Or perhaps I should explain how your life fell apart so rapidly. Did you know that your brother was going to try and see if he could restore you before? Of course, even if he'd remembered what he was going to do it wouldn't have worked – I would never have permitted it to be so. Couldn't have a grieving father hanging around trying to uncover the truth. Didn't plan for your wife losing her mind, either. Oh, I forgot. She isn't your wife any longer. You made that quite clear to her, didn't you?”

    Before the man had been merely a taunting presence, one that could be ignored if need be. This time around, his words had become something far worse. It had been bad enough hearing him talk of Simon, and of the time when he had been bereft of all emotions. What he was implying about his brother's actions was something that disturbed him. From that time through the period Simon had been dating Wanda, they had been cool to each other at best and openly hostile at worst. Although he was not willing to forgive him for what he had done, part of Vision missed the closeness they had once shared. If this stranger was telling the truth, then at least part of what had happened wasn't his fault.

    The words he had said about Wanda stung far worse than any others he might have said. The time that he had last been repaired he had spoken those very words to her, and even at the time they had caused him pain. It had been so easy to deny that he still held any feelings for her, to dismiss the past as being just that. Vision could now say that he had done so because he still held fear in his heart over losing her once more. Wanda was still human, and she would one day be gone from him forever. Losing his children had been the worst feeling he could ever imagine feeling. How much worse would it be to go through it again when the time came to lose the other half of his soul?

    Rage flowed through him as he stared down the intruder. “Do not dare to speak of Wanda in such a way. She understands why I said such words to her, and does not hold them against me. She would certainly not go and face someone like a coward, lurking in the shadows instead of out in the open.”

    His laughter was a chilling sound. “You think you're so clever, don't you? What if I were to tell you that the Avengers now think that is the truth? That they have turned their backs to one of their most stalwart allies?”

    “You lie.” There was no way the team would ever do something like that. Even during Wanda's breakdown, they had wanted to see if they could help her. She had so many friends among the Avengers. “I know my teammates well. None of them would abandon someone in need.”

    “Ah, yes. But what if they thought she was insane, and devoted to causing destruction among your ranks. 'Oh poor Wanda,' they say. 'She wanted a family so bad she made one of her own, and lashed out among those who took that from her.' It's too bad. If she'd only gone and quit before I started acting on my plans. Then she wouldn't have gotten caught up in this. It may amaze you, but I never wanted to hurt her. Even the children weren't supposed to be targets. If it hadn't been for that prediction...” He then trailed off, sensing he had said too much.

    “The children?” The words stirred Vision to even more anger. How dare this monster bring up his sons like that! He was going to tell him off for resurrecting the pain, but something about his words gave him pause. “They weren't supposed to be targets? What do you mean? _What did you do to them?_ Why would you kill them?!”

    “I did nothing. I merely pushed my ally into acting. And he wasn't...” Once more his foe drifted off. “I wonder whether or not they've found the witch yet. You do realize that they will do anything to take care of the threat now. Maybe they'll just take her powers from her, leave her helpless. Or better yet, they'll go for the permanent option. Even if she could make the world to her liking, I don't think that being dead would be something she could come back from. And then I can start working on making the divisions between the others grow.”

    Killing Wanda? The team was seriously thinking about doing that? “Why? Why her?”

    A shrug. “She was there, and I needed someone to place the blame on, at least once I decided to attack. Nothing personal.”

    Nothing personal? How could you say that but also say that you needed someone to blame? “Why do they think that she would do something like that? Wanda has always been one of the most loyal members of the team. I could not imagine her ever going and lashing out like that, not even if her mind was reduced to shreds.”

    “Just a mindless remark from Ms. Van Dyne. That was all it took. After all, you know who her father is and how she's lost it before. Such a weak mind. What a tragedy.” The way the man spoke of Wanda's weak mind was accompanied by so much scorn that Vision wondered why he felt so strongly on the issue. Having problems did not make one's mind weak, and Wanda didn't have the issues he was attributing to her.

    “The truth will come out. We will stop you.” The words felt hollow, because he had no idea how they were going to do that. If he had no idea who this man might be or what he really wanted, how could the Avengers do so? They hadn't had the luxury of seeing him in person.

    The same mocking laughter came out of his mouth. “Stop me? You're going to have to find me first. Who knows where I'll go next.” And he vanished.

    For now the time of living in the past was gone. Vision had a far greater threat to concern himself with now. This man for whatever reason had chosen to lash out against the Avengers, and Wanda in particular. His words about Billy and Tommy were just as horrifying as his discussion on how he was working against her. Had this man been the one that had sent Master Pandemonium to their home that day?

    If he had been the one to break his family, then there would be no place he could go where Vision would not find him. When he was returned to life, then he would find Wanda and would go track down that monster. When he found him there would be no mercy...

    If he was ever able to leave this limbo. 

 


	17. Recovery Mission

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The quest to restore Vision begins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've made some modifications to Kamala's backstory on how she got her powers here, in order to make things fit better. So if you notice any differences from the comics, that's why.

    Sneaking out of the house after he was supposed to be in bed wasn't something that Miles had ever thought he was going to do. His curfew was completely reasonable, and he knew that if he wanted to talk to any of his friends that he could do so without too much trouble. But tonight it was different. This time, he knew that it would be too dangerous to go out any earlier than he was leaving. And if for whatever reason he had been able to get out earlier, Miles knew his parents would never had agreed to let him go on this mission.

    On one level the task before him and his friends seemed relatively simple: get into the warehouse where the Vision was being kept, get him, and get out. But Miles knew perfectly well that they were facing one of the most difficult tasks they would ever face. There was virtually no chance that Tony Stark would leave one of his warehouses unguarded, and despite Cassie's connections to the man if they were to get caught they would be in a considerable amount of trouble. Based on what he had heard about the situation thus far, Miles knew that they were making the right choice by going. The idea of just leaving an innocent woman to her fate was not one that he could stomach. There had already been one time in his life when he had hesitated instead of acting, and the consequences of doing so still haunted him, and likely would for the rest of his life.

    He managed to get out without anyone noticing him, and began to make his way to meet up with Kate and Eli. Miles would have felt better if it was Kamala he was going to see first, but her story involved her spending the night with Cassie. Since he lived farther away from her than he did from the others, he couldn't meet his friend without taking too much time. It wasn't like he didn't like Eli. It was more that he didn't really know him all that well. Part of that was due to him being a year ahead of Miles, which meant they didn't have many chances to meet in their classes. But they also tended to travel in different circles – while Miles normally hung around people who shared his interest in science, Eli was the kind of person who liked to make friends with a whole different bunch of people. And as of yet, those people hadn't consisted of him. And when it came to Kate, she seemed like a nice enough person, but somewhat aloof from everyone around her. Without their encounter, he doubted they would have ever gotten to meet each other.

    He started to think about how he had managed to get involved in all this. He'd been trying to run a test on himself in the empty classroom when Cassie and the others had walked in. The story he'd given them was pretty flimsy, but he guessed that the surprise of his entrance combined with what they were hearing about Cassie's dad kept them from looking at it too hard. Miles wished that he didn't have to be deceptive, that he could be honest about why Kamala had wanted him to accompany them. But until he knew that they could all be trusted, that would have to wait.

    It was the things he was keeping from all of the others that had made him become close to Kamala. Part of what he had said about their meeting was true – that she'd been wearing a pair of socks that had various Avengers on them, and that had led them into a conversation about the team. From that day onward Miles would have described himself as being friendly with her, but not really one of her close friends. It wasn't until the day Kamala had seen something she shouldn't have from him that she felt capable of sharing her own secret, and that had done the trick. Now, they tended to spend a great deal of their time with each other. There were some things that only certain people could understand, and both Miles and Kamala played that role for each other.

    Standing on the corner of the street where they had agreed to meet up, he could see Eli and Kate standing around. Kate was carrying a duffle bag with her, and Eli was holding onto a leashed boxer who was sitting at his feet. “Miles. Good to see you could get here. This here is Fluffy.”

    There was something about both the name of the dog and Eli's completely serious tone that caused him to burst into laughter. “Well, I can see how he got his name. Is he yours?”

    “No, my uncle's. It's a good thing that he had to go away for a little while, because otherwise I wasn't sure if we would be able to create a distraction. Just hope Fluff here can follow orders.” He gave the dog a scratch to the head.

    What kind of distraction you needed a dog for wasn't clear to Miles right away. “Does he bite?” That would probably be more than a distraction, but if all else failed having an attack dog wouldn't be a bad choice.

    Eli rolled his eyes. “Fluffy thinks everyone in the world wants to be his friend. I'm more hoping along the lines of him sending any guards we find on a merry chase. He does like to run, since he always goes with me in the mornings.”

    Kate then added “I'm hoping the Fluffy plan ends up working out. I still think that relying on an animal to do what you want them to do is only asking for trouble, but apparently my idea was too dangerous.”

    “What would that have been?”

    “Setting off a few flares and waiting to see if security falls for it. Once we've gotten inside, then they shouldn't be as much of an issue. I hope I was right about the kind of rope we would need. Don't want to see it break while we're climbing.”

    Climbing was not going to be a problem for Miles, but he did ask “Why rope? Do you think we could just climb over whatever fence is there?”

    Eli answered with “Cassie said that she thinks the place has an electric charge built in the fencing. It would make sense, with the level of security needed. I don't know if the charge would be enough to really hurt us, but why take chances? And then there's the camera problem. Even if the fence is just a plain fence, there's still going to be cameras pointed at it. Until we can make sure those cameras aren't watching us, we need to avoid directly going on the fence.”

    The level of leadership Eli was showing fit in very well with what Miles had heard about him. He liked that he was thinking so much about what kinds of trouble they could be facing, and how best they could avoid said trouble. “So, what's the story you gave your mom and dad? Or did you just sneak out, like I did?”

    “School project. I've got a few people who will swear I was with them tonight if the need arises.”

    Kate added, “I'm supposed to be staying at a friend's house. I'm sure that things are going to work out for me, because as long as I come home tomorrow at a reasonable hour Mom and Dad aren't going to ask any questions. They're pretty good like that.”

    "So are mine, but I'm going to be out far too late this time around for me to risk anything other than sneaking out. I did try to see if a friend of mine would say I was staying with him tonight, but he couldn't do that. I don't know what will happen if my parents find out I'm not there or if we get caught." The issue was something that Miles tried to not think about, because the amount of trouble he would likely be in for this was so far beyond what he'd done in the past.

    "Then we're going to have to make sure we don't get caught," Kate said. Her phone began to ring. "That must be Cassie. Let's see where we're meeting. Oh, good. They aren't too far away. Let's go."

    Eli had one more question for Kate. "Did she say anything about where Magdalene and the Swordsman are going to be?"

    "I talked with her about that last night. They're going to be around a mile or so away. If we get into trouble or can't find a way in, Kamala is supposed to call them and leave a message with some code word. I don't know what that word might be, though. So I really hope that we aren't going to walk into some kind of trap, because I don't think Miles or Kamala have any kind of training in self-defense, not like you and I do."

    That definitely wasn't true for him, and with what he knew about Kamala she would at least be able to hold her own against most enemies. Although given what he'd heard about whoever had taken down the Avengers, this might be something too big for any of them to handle. It might have been better if the Swordsman and Magdalene were able to come with them, but with the Avengers having been targets in the past it probably wasn't wise to keep them close, even if they were fairly obscure members. (The only one of them who had any idea of who they were was Kamala, but she spent so much time looking up Avengers things that her base of knowledge was far greater than anyone else could possibly be.)

    Deciding to interject, Miles said "I'm capable of doing a lot more than you might think. I should be okay. And Kamala knows what she's getting into here. If you're really worried, then have her wait outside and keep watch."

    “I don't think we should do that. It'll make her feel like we don't trust her enough. I'll be the one to stay outside. The Fluffy plan involves me being close by, anyway.”

    Now he had a question for Eli. “So what is this Fluffy plan you've mentioned?” Before he'd talked about sending guards on a merry chase, but that couldn't be the entirety of the plan.

    “The basic part of it is me letting him off his leash, and then hoping he decides to take advantage of his newfound freedom to go running off. Then I go and find someone who's watching over the place and tell them my dog's gotten away from me and I think he went in this direction. If all goes according to plan, I'll be able to get them out of the way while you guys get in. Then I just get Fluff to come back, and we wait for you to finish.”

    The plan was fairly simple, and if everything went like Eli said it would a significant obstacle would be taken away. “How do you know that he'll come back to you?”

    “He's pretty well-trained. And I've brought some treats in my pockets, so if nothing else works I'll just use those. But he'll be getting one in the end no matter what, because he's a good boy, aren't you?” Eli knelt down, and Fluffy responded by giving him a kiss on his face. The scene made Miles wonder if he could convince his parents that they needed a dog.

    They walked for longer than he had thought they might. Cassie had been the one to pick the rendezvous point, and Miles guessed she had chosen it because it was close to their final destination. As they rounded a corner, he could see her and Kamala standing by a streetlight.

    Kate said “Nice to see you Cass. So how'd dinner go?”

    Cassie answered with “As well as I could expect. There weren't any embarrassing questions or anything like that. Kamala was way nicer than I would have been in the same situation. My mother could have at least tried to pretend she knows anything about me.”

    From what Kamala had told him the last time they spoke, Cassie was not fond of her mother in the slightest. Not that Miles really thought she had a reason to feel otherwise. If her mother really loved her, then she wouldn't have gone and taken her from her dad without a how-are-you. He had no idea what that judge had been thinking by sending Cassie away from the person who'd taken care of her for so long.

    Cassie was still speaking. “It was nice to talk to Kamala for a while. I'm glad I've gotten to know her. Don't know if we would have run into each other without all this happening. Not that it makes things completely better, but at least something good's come out of this mess.”

    “And I've gotten to meet four Avengers. Wish I'd just been able to meet Cassie like normal people do, but I can at least look and say that I helped make things a little bit better. That's something.” Kamala, like always, was able to look at the bright side of everything. There had only been one time that Miles could think of when her optimism had failed her, and that had been the day she had confessed her worst fear to him. He honestly had no idea how he could help with that, either.

    He wondered if she had been able to share her secret with Cassie. It did no good to keep all of those worries trapped inside her, and Kamala was afraid of what would happen if she told her family. Not because they would reject her, but because the people around them might do so.

    “Where's your dad?” he asked.

    Cassie smiled. “Right here with me. I'm going to ask him for advice on how to use the particles so I can avoid detection for as long as I can. Also, there might be some locks we need to get open. Dad told me he's gotten into some in the past, and he can take care of that so no one sees us messing with them.”

    “I've even gotten the chance to talk to him a bit.” That settled the question in Eli's mind. Kamala had spoken about what was going on with her to Cassie and Mr. Lang. Their own experiences weren't going to be quite the same thing as what she was going through right now, but at least there was some similarity.

    Kate looked at her and said “Why did you want to talk to him?”

    Kamala looked down at her feet. “It's kind of complicated.”

    “Is this something that you feel like you can talk about with us, or is it too personal?”

    “No, I've been keeping this all inside me for too long. The only person I've told before today is Miles, but I think you should all know as well.” She looked over all of them, from Eli to Cassie. "I guess all of this got started around a year ago. I was just goofing off on my computer, chatting with Nakia and just doing the usual stuff. So when I was going and checking out one of the Avengers' forums I go to, I saw something about Ms. Marvel and then just thought about how cool it would be to be like her. You know, be able to do all of the stuff she can, save the world, all of that. And when I got up for a bit, I saw myself in the mirror." She didn't say exactly what she had seen, but since the very first thing she did was turn into a replica of said hero right in front of them Miles doubted she needed to say anymore. "So, yeah."

    Eli asked her "So what did you think? If that had happened to me I'd be freaking out."

    "At first I tried not to think about it. Then one day at breakfast Aamir knocked over the milk, and I just went to grab it without thinking. I was on the other side of the table, and I knew that my arm wasn't going to be able to reach over. But I could. No one noticed, thankfully, but that was the day I realized something was going on. I started to look and see if there was anything else I could do, and then discovered that I could change my size as well as my appearance. I've been trying my hardest not to think about what that means, but I think..." She looked away. "I think that I might be a mutant."

    Eli raised his eyebrow.  _"Might_ be a mutant? Saying that is like saying that you've noticed you're growing extra hair around the time of the full moon and have started getting some cravings for deer, and saying 'Hey guys, I think I might be a werewolf.'"

    The comparison caused Kamala to dissolve into laughter. "Yeah, I know. But I'm afraid about what that's going to mean for me if it's true."

    Kate said "Is it because you're afraid of what might happen with your family if they find out?"

    "Not directly, no. I don't think there's anything I could tell them about that would make them stop loving me. But what about the other people around us? You've seen what happens on the news when people have found out they're living near a mutant. I don't want to put anyone in danger."

    She pondered that for a moment. "Well, things have changed a bit. More people are saying that they don't have any problems with mutants who don't have any dangerous powers, and it sounds like you qualify under that umbrella. I mean, there have been several mutants who joined the Avengers and were well-respected the whole time."

    “There's a fine line between saying something like that and actually following through on it. That doesn't even take into account the fact that there are already people who think of my family as being on the fringe. Giving them another reason to distrust us can't possibly go well.”

    None of this was new to Miles, as he and Kamala had talked about this before. He remained quiet, because he didn't think he could say anything that hadn't already been said before.

    Kate finally responded with “I wish there was something else I could do to help. Just remember that you've got friends here.”

    She smiled. “Thanks. I've got Nakia and Bruno to talk about things with, but I haven't been able to tell them about this.”

    Cassie now spoke up. “Honestly? I think you should talk to them. They're your friends, right? Do you trust them enough to know they'll support you no matter what?”

    Kamala did not answer her. Miles guessed she was thinking about what Cassie had said.

    Now they walked in silence, thinking on what they were going to have to do. Cassie was the one to stop them. “We're just about there. Eli, you said that you have a plan for a distraction?”

    “I do, as long as I can pull it off.” He glanced over at the fence blocking access to a warehouse. “That's our target, right?”

    Cassie nodded.

    “Okay, let's go and get close. If anyone sees anybody else, then say something.”

    Fortunately, no one was within sight. Once they were up against the fence, Kate began to go through her bag and pulled out a bow, to Miles's surprise. “What are you doing with that?”

    “It's for our rope. I'm going to attach it to one of my arrows, and fire it into a tree or something. Hopefully from there I can get it taught enough so it can be used.”

    Miles felt like he had underestimated Kate Bishop. He'd thought that the main reason she was coming with them was due to her friendship with Cassie, and the support she would offer. But Kate could clearly think her way out of a situation. “I'm not going to have many problems with the rope,” was what he came out with.

    “And Cassie and I can get in under the fence, so we won't need the rope. If you do have problems there, we might be able to help you out from the other side.”

    Kate nodded, and shouldered the bow.

    Eli looked them all over, and said “Well, time to release Fluffy. Hope he doesn't go too far.” He reached out to the dog's collar and unhooked the leash. He waited to see what would happen next.

    Fluffy stood there, wagging his tail. He made no move to move from Eli's side.

    Miles asked “Do you think there's something we can do to get him to go?”

    Eli shrugged. “I should have taken Uncle Josiah at his word when he promised us his dog was trained well. Maybe if I tossed one of his treats...”

    “And how is he going to know that's what you're throwing? What if he just doesn't like to chase things?”

    The frustration of the situation was affect Eli, as he snapped at Kate “If you have any brilliant ideas for what to do next, then share them with us.”

    Now starting to worry their mission would end before it even really began, Miles stepped in. “I've got a bit of an idea.” Both Kate and Eli turned away from each other to look at him. “Right now we aren't seeing anyone, so maybe we don't need to worry about a distraction. What we will need is someone to alert us if someone or something comes over here.”

    Eli answered “Okay. So what do you think we should do about that?”

    “First off, we leave Fluffy tied up next to the fence. He may not chase, but I'm willing to bet he'll bark. That would give us time to think of what to do next. And one of us should stay outside, so they can hear better.”

    “I'll do it.” He was glad Kamala had volunteered. Cassie wasn't going to agree to stay behind, and asking either Kate or Eli might make the tension even worse.

    “All right. Kate, do your thing.”

    The moments in between Eli speaking and Kate taking action were some of the more stressful ones in Miles's life. He wasn't sure what to do if they were unable to use the rope the way she'd described, or how a failure would affect the tension that lingered among all of them. The arrow flew off just as planned, and it thankfully attached itself to a nearby tree. Kate grabbed the end of the rope, tied it to the fence, and asked “Who wants to go first?”

    Eli said, “That would be me.” It was another relief for Miles, since if he went first his ease in navigating the rope would be obvious to everyone. Waiting meant that he might not have all eyes on him. He watched as Eli slowly made his way onto the other side. “Miles, you're next.”

_Try to make it look harder than it is,_ he mentally repeated. While the reaction of the others wasn't something he was afraid of if they happened to notice how easy this task was for him, it was better to not have any questions asked. He took longer than Eli had, and hoped that it looked like it was a challenge to go forward. When he got to the other side, he looked over to see Kate starting her own journey. “Where are Cassie and Kamala?”

    “They should be here any minute now. They went under instead of over.”

    Just as he finished speaking, the two suddenly popped up. “Dad wants to go take a look and see if he can find any cameras that are pointed in this direction. If there are, he's going to take them offline for now.”

    “And I have my own strategy for going unnoticed.” Kamala began to shift into the form of a middle-aged man, who was shorter than she was. “So if I do see a guard, they won't be able to say that they saw me, and I know I can just become smaller if I need to get away fast.”

    “Do you have a phone with you?” Eli asked her.

    “No, I left mine at Cassie's. She brought hers, though.”

    Cassie tossed the phone over in her direction. “Eli's number is stored in my phone, so if you do get spotted call us when you can get out of the way.”

    “Will do,” said Kamala with a nod.

    Now that they were actually over the fence, Miles kept thinking that any minute now a guard was going to jump out at them and say “You aren't supposed to be here,” and then call the police. He didn't feel any signs of danger, so he guessed that wasn't about to happen.

    They were now almost at the warehouse itself, and he could see the words ALL CLEAR being formed in front of him. Mr. Lang must have gotten the cameras, then.

    Cassie began to shrink, and they just stood there while she spoke with her father. When she returned to normal, she said “Dad's going to stay out here with Kamala. He thinks it's better for us to have nobody alone. And there's a good chance we won't need his help inside.”

    Miles had to wonder “Don't you think there's going to be some kind of security inside?”

    “I hope not. I'm going off the assumption that since the main point is going to be keeping people from getting on the property in the first place, there might not be anyone inside. And if they do have somebody inside, then there's going to have to be lighting and heat and things like that. It doesn't look like there are any lights in there, so I'm going to say no one's there.”

    Kate frowned. “If there aren't any lights on, how are we going to see anything? If we turned on a light, then people are going to know that someone's inside.”

    “I've got a flashlight,” Cassie said.

    Eli then had his own thoughts to share. “Cassie, did you get any information about how we're going to know when we've found Vision? I'm willing to bet that there are going to be a lot of things inside here, and we can't spend all night trying to stumble upon the right one.”

    “Don't worry. When I was talking with Uncle Tony I asked how he could tell where exactly he had put him, and he said that the container had both the Stark Industries logo on it as well as the Avengers' symbol. It was a bit weird talking to him, though. Not like when Kamala and I went to speak with Wonder Man – it wasn't quite the same. Just when I started talking about fixing Vision and when they were going to get around to that, he started saying his head was hurting. Uncle Tony said he was sorry, but he'd been having these headaches a lot recently.”

    Miles said “That doesn't sound very good. Has he gotten a MRI or something like that?”

    “I asked him if he'd seen a doctor, and he said he had but they couldn't find anything wrong with him. He did say that he had a bit of an idea of why this was happening, but didn't give me any details. I'm hoping that it was because he's afraid that I might be in trouble if he told me too much.”

    Eli said “If those headaches aren't connected to the trouble that's been going on I'll eat my hat.”

    “And I'll go and take up knitting.” Kate glanced around the building as the door was opened. Miles thought that Mr. Lang might have had something to do with that, because it seemed pretty unlikely that a place like this would be left unlocked, even if there was no security inside.

    The only good thing that he had to say about the place was that it didn't have any rooms. The warehouse looked to be a sprawling place filled with shadowy things that were almost certainly boxes of stuff, or just items that could not be stored anywhere else. Judging by the sheer quantity Miles could see, it would take them all night to search. “Whoa. I think this is going to take a lot longer than we planned.”

    Kate seemed to think about this for a moment. “Well, I think that we can narrow this down a bit. First off, we can rule out anything that doesn't have the markings that we want. So a quick glance should hopefully tell us what we need to know. And I'm willing to bet that since this happened recently, we aren't going to find what we're looking for on the bottom of any of these piles. If we only have to look at the top, that makes things a little easier.”

    “So should we split up, or is it better if we stay together?” Cassie was looking around, flashing her light over the various corners.

    Miles gave his opinion. “I think we should stick together. I don't think anyone else has a flashlight, and that way we won't have to worry about what would happen if we lose someone.”

    “Do you think that something's going to happen to us?”

    “I don't know. It's kind of in the back of my mind, but at the same time I can't think of why someone would know that we're going to be here tonight. None of us have spoken about this to anyone else, yet...” He trailed off, still not feeling comfortable with what was happening.

    “If the person who's done all this so far could do so much, why couldn't they be watching us?”

    “Yes. That's it.” It was easier to admit what he was feeling when another person also vocalized it.

    Kate and Eli were looking over a bunch of boxes while Cassie spoke with Miles. “Man, this thing is heavy. What's in here, rocks?”

    Miles walked over to where Kate was standing and straining to lift a box. “Let me help you. Why are you trying to move that, anyway?”

    “I saw an Avengers' logo on the side of the box beneath this one. I figured it couldn't hurt to check it out.”

    “Okay, then let's get moving.” He tried to make it look like it was a challenge to lift up the heavy box, but Kate wasn't buying it.

    “Is there something you might want to share with us?” Her voice wasn't accusing or annoyed. The overall tone was more of concern.

    He paused. “Right now, no. Later on I'll explain.”

    “Does anyone else know?”

    “Yeah. Kamala and another of my friends.” He didn't mention any names she didn't already know.

    “Fine. I understand.” They checked out the box, but all that was in there was a few poles. “Guess we need to move on to the next one.”

    They walked over to another pile, careful to stay within the range of Cassie's light. While they were examining the top of the pile, they heard Eli's voice yell “I think we've got it!”

    Both walked over to where he was standing. Cassie was kneeling by a single crate that was more of a rectangle shape than any of the others were. The necessary symbols could be seen on the top and the sides, and Cassie was working to get one of the ends open. “There doesn't seem to be a way I can open this up. Let me try something different.” She began to grow smaller, and soon was not visible to anyone. After a few minutes, she came back into sight. "This is it. But I'm thinking that we're going to be having more trouble afterwards than I thought."

    Eli asked "Why?"

    "Because of how he looks now. I thought that Vision was going to just be pieces of limbs and a torso or something like that. Instead he's all these little bits that don't look like they connect to anything at all. And when I tried to lift up one of those pieces, it was nearly impossible. How are we going to get out carrying this? It was hard enough getting in here without a heavy box to lift."

    He'd never planned to do anything like this, but if they were going to be successful here Miles had to step up. "Let me take care of the crate."

    "Alone? It's too heavy for one person, unless you've got some kind of way of moving this we don't know about."

    Miles responded by walking over to the crate and lifting it with one hand. He put it down, and said "See?"

    Everyone stared at him for a moment. Eli broke the silence by saying "Is this the kind of thing that we were talking about earlier?"

    "I'm not a mutant, if that's what you want to know. I'll explain later on. Right now we need to work on getting out of here. I'll go first, okay?"

    Before he could hear anything, Miles headed on out with the crate carefully in his grasp. He had not planned on sharing his story with anyone tonight, and knew that telling it would take up far more time than he thought would be wise. After securing the crate against his back, he made his way over the fence. Once on the other side, he put it down and went to go find Kamala.

    She was still roaming near the fence, looking the same as she had before. He tapped to get her attention, and she changed back to her normal appearance. "Did you find him? Is everything all right?"

    "Yes to both. I just wanted to let you know that we were going to be leaving soon. I'm going to go meet up with everyone, and then we'll contact the Swordsman and Magdalene."

    "Then I'm going to get out of here. Is there any spot you want me to go to?"

    "Look for the crate on the grass. That'll be the best spot."

    When Miles got back over, he saw that everyone was already outside. Eli was talking on the phone, saying "Yeah, the corner should be fine. You think there will be any problems with you carrying it? Oh, I see. Glad it'll work out." He looked over at Miles. "You got it out okay?"

    "I did. Went to go and tell Kamala we were ready to leave. I didn't want her to be caught off guard."

    "Great. Everyone else ready?" Both Kate and Cassie nodded. "Then let's get out of here."

    They were over on the other side when a guard was spotted. For a few moments no one moved or said a word, but all the guard did was glance at them and say "Don't you have better places to be than here?"

    Kate answered him. "We were just at a party. We're going home now."

    He nodded, and continued to roam around the perimeter of the building. All Miles could think to say was "That was close. I'm glad Kamala's already gotten out."

    "At least he didn't ask any real questions," was Cassie's response. "Time to go meet Kamala."

    She was sitting on top of the crate, and said "I heard you talking to the guard. I saw him while you were inside, but he didn't see me. Do you know where we're going to meet up with the Avengers?"

    "An intersection near here. Magdalene said they would be in a blue car."

    "You sure it was really them?"

    Eli gave her a skeptical look. "Maybe it wasn't, but we have to try and put some trust in people. She said they'd be there in about ten minutes, so we don't have a lot of time."

    There wasn't any discussion this time around about who would be carrying the crate. It had been accepted that this was now Miles's responsibility, and he took on the job with pride. He suspected that at some point soon he was going to be telling them his own story, and planned on thinking of the best time to say anything.

    "Does anyone have the time?" Kate asked when they arrived at their rendezvous point. "Because if it's past midnight, then I'm going to have to be real careful going back inside."

    Cassie looked at her wrist. "10:45. Gives us a little time."

    Not enough for Miles, because he knew his parents might still be awake now. If they were, he was going to have a very hard time getting back inside. He was so preoccupied by that that he didn't notice when the car pulled up.

    He'd never met an Avenger before, and he'd never even heard of these two before they had made their plans for tonight. He wasn't certain that any of them had, save for Kamala. But the Swordsman and Magdalene looked pretty much like everyone else, save for Magdalene being taller than most. She was the first one to speak, asking Eli "How did it go?"

    "As well as it could. Cassie got a look inside, but Vision's so badly torn up that I don't know if you'll be able to help him out."

    Swordsman said "We're planning on giving it a try for a little while. I really do think that we're going to need help from Hank in the end though."

    Now it was his turn to say something. "Uh, I've done a bit of stuff with electronics before. And I know that this isn't the same thing, but if you need help I can do whatever I can."

    Magdalene smiled at him. "Great! You're Miles, right? If you could at least try to help out then we might be getting somewhere. Let me get the crate into the car, and we can talk about this later on."

    "Not tonight. I've got to get home soon. My parents don't know that I've gone out. The longer I stay, the more likely it is that I'll be found out."

    "Then you should get going. Cassie's got our number, and she can give it to you when you see each other next."

    It was as clear a dismissal as you could get, and while Miles felt guilty about leaving his friends he knew that they would be safe now. He headed off into the night, hoping that there would be no lights on when he got back home.

    Fortune was on his side, as the whole house was quiet when he opened the door. After a few minutes of waiting to see if his mom and dad were going to spring an ambush on him, Miles finally began to relax.

    Going to his room, he thought about all he had done tonight. In a manner of speaking it had been his first heroic mission, and things had worked out fairly well. The only question that remained was whether or not they would be able to help Vision, but right now Miles opted not to wonder about that. “You did good,” he said.

    With that, he headed off for bed. They could tackle those problems tomorrow.

 


	18. Joining Forces

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wanda visits the playground, and meets a friend. And Bonita finds out she's not alone in searching for the truth.

    It was such a small thing, being able to walk to the playground with your children. Wanda right now was luxuriating in this small pleasure, and wasn't even worried about someone spotting her. If the Avengers showed up in front of her, she only had to show them the twins and introduce Anna to them. Even if they just tried to argue that she had merely created Billy and Tommy out of her own mind, there was Rebecca to vouch for their existence prior to the whole incident at the mansion. She was going to be harder to argue with.

    "There's the school. Are we going to go there someday, Mommy?" Tommy was always asking questions like that, and showed an overwhelming curiosity about the world around him. "I asked Aunt Anna if we were going to go to school soon, but she just said 'We'll see.'"

    "I think that you might be going to a different school than that one. Since you're going to be living in a different place when it's time to go to school, that means you won't be close enough to go here."

    "I like the playground here," Billy added. "But I like being with you better. We haven't gone here for a while, 'cause Aunt Anna said we couldn't go. I wanted to go on the slides."

    Anna had told her and Bonita about how she felt guilty for not being able to take the children anywhere while she was afraid of being followed. Her fear had been a valid one, but Wanda wasn't going to let Robert Reynolds keep her from spending time with her family. And Anna didn't mind her going out, as long as she also took Teddy with her. Not that Wanda would have left him behind, not wanting to see him stuck indoors while his playmates got to go places.

    "Too bad there aren't any other kids here. It's nice to play with other people. Aunt Anna doesn't always let us, except with Joel. But he's too little to have fun with." Joel Kaplan was Rebecca's first child, and had only recently celebrated his second birthday. It wasn't too much of a shock that Tommy would not be happy playing with him, even if he was the only other child Anna would like to see them with.

    Wanda hoped to meet Rebecca at some point. She seemed to be a nice person from what she'd heard, and she had apparently told Anna she needed to make more friends. Over the last few days, she and Bonita had begun to fall under that umbrella, so it would be a good thing to let her know that her friend was starting to reach out.

    For her part, the last few days had been filled with getting to know her sons all over again. How a child was when they were a baby didn't always mean that was how they were going to be as they grew. So as she spent more time with Billy and Tommy she started to catalog things about them, such as favorite foods (Tommy – mashed potatoes, Billy – spaghetti and meatballs), the books they liked (anything from the Frog and Toad series), and their favorite toys (Tinker Toys and their Fantastic Four action figures). The twins were more than happy to share all this with her, being just as happy to be with their mother as she was with them. The only missing piece was Vision, and as Wanda watched Billy and Tommy run over to the slide she vowed to discuss that with Bonita tonight. She was absent from the Altman home right now, having gone off to speak to her old student, Holly. She was one of the only people from her time as a mother to have kept up any kind of relationship with her, so Wanda hoped she could provide additional evidence for her sanity.

    Teddy hadn't gone over to play like the twins had, and was still standing at her side. “Do you not want to play now, Teddy?” Maybe he'd only gone out with them because his mother had said it was okay, not out of any desire to go.

    He looked over at the swings, and then turned to her. “Ms. Maximoff? Can I ask you something?”

    “Of course you can. What is it?” She thought the question might have to do with her career as an Avenger. Normally that would be a topic she loved to talk about, but the betrayal the team had shown her made Wanda not feel particularly charitable towards them.

    “Did you know my daddy when he was alive?”

    That was unexpected. Anna had said she had told Teddy that his father had died before he was born, but nothing about him being Kree or how his parents had met. She wasn't sure that she would be able to tell him how they had met without explaining any of those things, and telling him without getting permission from Anna would be wrong. “Yes, I knew your father a little bit.” That much was true, since the amount of time she had spent with Mar-Vell hadn't been that great.

    “Can you tell me about him? Mommy just gets sad when I ask. I think she misses him.”

    This would be yet another challenge, as so much of what Wanda knew was tied up in things she could not say. Teddy had no idea he wasn't really a normal human, or that the woman he called Mommy hadn't given birth to him. How could she say something that would both not reveal too much but also satisfy Teddy's desire to learn more about his father? “Well, I didn't spend a lot of time with your father, so I'm afraid that I can't tell you as much as you might want to know. I do know that he was very brave. He always tried to do the right thing, no matter what it meant for him. He also tried his best to make people get along, even when they didn't agree on most things.”

    “Do you know how he met my mommy?”

    “There was some fighting going on, and he came to help everybody make peace with each other. Your mommy was trying to do the same thing, and they met each other then. Afterwards, they still saw each other at times.”

    “Mommy said they didn't have time to get married to each other.”

    “No, they didn't.” And even if they had time to say their vows, neither one of them could have counted on their people offering up much support, despite having been at peace on paper. “But they did love each other very much. Sometimes people aren't always able to spend a lot of time with each other, but they still care about them even if they have to be away from them a lot.”

    Teddy looked to be taking in this information. “Are you married to Billy and Tommy's daddy?”

    Technically she would have to say “No.” But at the same time, Wanda didn't even think that her marriage to Vision might have counted legally, since they hadn't gone and filed any papers. Their thoughts had been along the lines of not knowing if he would even qualify as a man in the courts. She now wondered how he would feel if she told him that they couldn't be considered divorced since they might never have been married in the first place. When they saw each other again...

    She answered Teddy with a “Yes.”

    “They missed you. Tommy sometimes said he saw you and his daddy, but I thought he was dreaming. I wish I could see my daddy.”

    “Has your mommy ever shown you pictures of him?”

    “No. She says she doesn't have any.”

    “Well, once Bonita and I have done the job we need to do, then I'm going to see about getting you all the pictures I can. And I'll find the people who knew your daddy real well, so they can tell you all about him.”

    “Thank you, Ms. Maximoff. I'm glad you came here.”

    “So am I, Teddy. So am I.” He gave her a quick hug before heading off to join Billy on the swings. While he got along with both boys, Teddy did seem to be closer to Billy. Wanda walked over to one of the benches, and sat down.

    “Hi there.” A woman's voice seemed to come out of nowhere. “Mind if I join you?”

    "Not at all." The woman sat down next to her. She had a boy sitting in a stroller, who was eating a few Cheerios. "Do you come here a lot?"

     "Whenever I can. I'm busy with work during most of the week, so Joel and I don't get to come out except on the weekends typically. I'm Rebecca Kaplan, by the way. You are?"

    "Wendy Smith." Smith wasn't the best name to use, but right now Wanda couldn't think of a better name to use.

    "I'm guessing that you must be Anna's sister. I can't imagine she would allow anyone else to look after the boys. I always wished that Anna would try and reach out to more people. If I hadn't run into her and Teddy at the store one day, I don't think that she would have even gotten close to me." Rebecca sighed. "Anna doesn't even want to go out with me most of the time. If we do go somewhere, she's always on guard. She's so secretive. Until Billy and Tommy came to stay with her, I had no idea that she even had a sister."

    Judging by what Rebecca was saying, she didn't know who Wanda really was. She hadn't bothered to touch up the dye job she'd given her hair since starting her journey, and by now the roots were really beginning to show. The lack of any kind of news about her made the need to do so not significant, although if for whatever reason someone came around asking about her she might change her view. This had more to do with the mysterious Robert than the Avengers at this point. "Anna does have reasons for the way she acts. I can't explain them to you, because it's her place to tell you. Is there anyone that she has some kind of connection with?"

    "The only person I've seen besides me and Jeff is Kasher down at the coffee house. She's talked to him from time to time. And once or twice I've seen a woman coming to visit. I asked her if that was her sister, but she said no. Then she didn't talk to me for a month or so. I was pregnant with Joel then, so I didn't try and catch up with her. It took a lot to have him, and I was a little paranoid about something happening."

    That was a familiar story. "My husband was the same way when I was pregnant with Billy and Tommy. At first it was nice to have him waiting on me hand and foot, but after a while it's not really much fun. We had our own issues with conceiving, and I think the idea of something happening was worse for him than it was for me." While Wanda had known that if her pregnancy was unsuccessful she was very unlikely to have a child, for Vision it was even worse. This was his only chance to be a father, and if it didn't work out the window would be lost permanently.

    Rebecca nodded slowly. "Given that so much emphasis is placed on becoming a parent in this world, you think that people would be more understanding of when you have trouble doing so. So many of my friends kept avoiding the topic of children once word got out that Jeff and I were having issues. There were times that I felt like that was a relief because it was so frustrating to want a child and not be able to have one. But then there were times when I wanted nothing more than to hear about other's being able to get what I wanted." She looked guilty as she continued to speak. "Do you know what one of the things I thought when I first met Billy and Tommy? 'Why can't one of them be mine?' Selfish, I know but I guess that I wasn't as at peace with my fertility problems as I'd thought. It was only a few days after that when I decided to take action and began to look for doctors who could help. As you can tell by Joel here, we found one."

    While Wanda could relate to Rebecca's story of loss, she knew that she couldn't yet share her own experience with her. To start with, there was a chance that she wouldn't believe it. And if she did, then there was their enemy lurking in the shadows somewhere. He had gone after Anna before, so who could say if he would do the same to anyone else who might pose a threat?

    From her vantage point of watching the children, she could see that Billy and Teddy were now climbing on the jungle gym while Tommy was now on the swings. He noticed the new arrival and ran on over. "Hi Mrs. Kaplan. This is my mommy. She's going to stay with us forever now. I can't wait 'til Daddy can see us again, too. I know that he's sad when he can't see us. I want to tell him everything!"

    It wasn't too much of a surprise what the next question she got was. Rebecca first spoke to Tommy, saying "I know that he'll be glad to see you, too." She then asked Wanda "Why weren't you and your husband able to take care of them before now? I can tell by watching you how much you love them."

    "Work-related. Due to our jobs, my husband and I weren't able to take care of Billy and Tommy full-time. Also, my husband suffered a serious injury that led to major changes in his personality for a period of time. I never planned on having things go on as long as they did, but now I'm in a place where I can be fully responsible for my children."

    Something about the way Rebecca looked at her now made Wanda suspect she knew more than she was saying. If she was really accepting the story, why didn't she ask about the kind of work that would keep you away from your children for so long or wonder at why there hadn't been any type of contact between her and Anna? Or just try to ask some questions that might make Anna's situation more clear. Instead, her only response was "I see."

    Her phone went off at that moment, and she opted to let it go to voicemail. Checking the number, she recognized Bonita's number. "Excuse me. I need to go and make a phone call. Can you keep an eye on the children for now?"

    "Sure. It's no trouble."

    She headed off to one of the trees that was on the playground, and dialed Bonita's number. "Bonita? I got your call. Did you find out anything?"

    There was a clear tone of excitement in her voice as she said "Oh, yes. I spoke with Holly, but it was what happened afterwards that was the really important part."

    "Can you tell me about it over the phone?"

    "I'd prefer not to. In fact, it's better if you come back as soon as you can. We're going to be having some guests tonight, and I'm looking forward to it."

    Guests? That was something different. "Why are we having them over?"

    Bonita sounded very proud as she said "Let's just say that we aren't the only people who've been looking into this whole issue. I'll tell you everything as soon as I get back."

    "And I'm looking forward to hearing about it. See you then."

    Walking back over to where the twins were lying on their stomachs in the grass, Wanda said "Boys, we have to go now."

    Billy looked crestfallen. "Why?" Teddy, who was sitting by himself on a swing, looked as disappointed as Billy sounded upon hearing the words. 

    "Because I got a call from your Aunt Bonita, and she has something important to tell me. So we need to get back and meet her at Aunt Anna's, okay?"

    The children clearly weren't happy to be going, but they didn't do anything other than grumble about it as they went over to Wanda's side. Rebecca had gotten Joel out of his stroller and was going over to the swings, but she stopped to speak to them. "Do you have to leave now?"

    "Yes, a friend of mine just sent me a message about something we need to talk about soon. She's coming over to Anna's, and I want to be there before she gets in."

    "I understand. It was nice to finally meet you, Wendy." Then she leaned in closer, and said "I know who you really are, and that Anna's not your sister. I don't exactly understand everything that's happened, but I know you have reasons for not telling me everything. I hope that you can get whatever you need to do resolved soon. Don't worry, I won't say a word to anyone."

    It wasn't as much of a shock that she knew at least part of the truth as it might have been. Even with a haircut, she still looked enough like the Scarlet Witch to be recognized. Wanda only hoped that by revealing herself she didn't end up putting Rebecca on Robert's list of targets. “Thank you for your trust. I hope that one day I will be able to tell you more. Time to go, everyone.”

    Holding hands, they began to walk back to the Altman home.

* * *

 

    Bonita had gotten more than one surprise from her meeting with Holly LaDonna. Now that they were back in familiar territory for the Avengers, she had wondered if there might be another path towards finding Robert Reynolds. She had asked Wanda if there was anyone she might be able to speak with, and Holly's name had come up. “Out of all the people I knew back in the day, she's the only one I've spoken with since. I really should try and see more of how she's been doing over the last few years. When you see her, let her know I'm thinking about her.”

    She had kept that promise, and found Holly to be a lively young woman who was more than happy to speak with her about Wanda. Her talk about the last time they had spoken further strengthened the case for Wanda's sanity, as one of their topics had been the twins. “I hated to bring it up, because I knew how much it hurt her. I can't imagine anything worse than outliving your children.” She had given some non-verbal tell after that, because Holly blinked a few times. “Wait. The way you just looked... What really happened then?”

    “I can't tell you everything, but I will say that Wanda's gotten one of the greatest gifts anyone could get.” It was vague enough to not say anything, but the message was quite clear. “But please keep it to yourself. There's danger out there.”

    Holly had nodded. “Yeah. That's what Wonder Man said to me. Nothing's happened since we talked, but who knows how things are going to be?”

    Bonita felt like she'd been slapped. “Simon was here talking to you? How did that happen?”

    “He got my name from one of Wanda's old nanny's. Based on what he told me, he was looking into what happened at the mansion and was trying to prove she knew about her kids before all this went on. He also said that he hadn't been able to remember that until someone reminded him. Simon even said that around the time Vision got destroyed he'd had a similar experience forgetting a conversation he had. He told me that before he forgot he was planning on doing what it took to help get him back, but once he forgot it all went by the wayside.”

    Bonita was itching to get back to Anna's and talk with Wanda about all this. While she still maintained a friendship with Simon, Vision had never gotten over the fact the man he called brother had been willing to throw him under the bus so that he might have a chance with his wife. She couldn't blame him in the slightest for feeling that way, but if Holly was telling the truth Simon hadn't done so entirely of his own free will. What that would mean for Simon and Vision could be worked out later. “Did he say if he had spoken with anyone else about this?”

     “He did, but wouldn't give me any names.”

    There was one final question. “Have you ever heard of anyone named Robert Reynolds?”

    Holly shook her head. “Can't say I have.”

    “I didn't think so, but thanks for telling me.” Bonita had then gotten up and left Holly's home, and that was when the second surprise came up.

    She was walking along, planning to call Wanda as soon as she had a moment, when she heard an unfamiliar voice saying “Firebird? Is that you?”

    At first Bonita was afraid that this would turn out to be the mysterious Robert, but when she turned to look in the direction of the voice she saw two vaguely familiar people, although she couldn't quite place them. The man seemed to remind her of someone she'd seen before, and she said “What do you want from me?”

    The woman looked over at the man, and then she said “I'm Magdalene, and this is Philip Javert – the Swordsman. We're Avengers, and we were coming here to speak with someone. I didn't think we'd find anyone else we knew here.”

    Now she could place them. During a few times when all of the Avengers had worked together as well as the Christmas gathering Bonita had met the two of them, although how much she knew about either one was pretty much zero. “It's a surprise to me, too. What are you doing here?”

    Philip answered her. “We were coming to speak to someone. We've been looking into some things, team-related stuff.”

    The lack of any other information being given made Bonita think that she had a good idea of what it might be. After all, hadn't Simon told Holly that he was working with other people? “If what you're looking at has to do with Wanda, then I can tell you I'm doing the same. What made you start to look at things?”

    Magdalene said “It's kind of funny. Philip and I were talking about what had happened one night, and then we both saw a strange woman telling us to check the ruins. So we went to the mansion, and that was where we ran into Simon. We started to compare what we knew, and realized that there was no chance the story we had been given was true, especially with what we found there.”

    “What did you find that made that so clear?”

    “A photo album. The one that Vision got Wanda last Christmas. We have it at our home right now.”

    That would be pretty clear evidence that Wanda hadn't just remembered her children when Jan made that remark to her. Even more importantly, Philip and Magdalene didn't really know her, so it would be hard to say that she had just made them feel this way. “So you've been working with Simon. Would there be a good time for me to go speak with him?”

    Philip shook his head and sighed. “If you'd been here sooner then you could have talked to him. But he's gone back to California, and worse yet he doesn't remember anything we talked to him about.”

    This along with Holly's comments made Bonita suspect that he was being watched by Robert Reynolds in some way. “That's disappointing. I was hoping we could have another ally.”

    “We do have some people in our camp. Cassie Lang and her friends, as well as Ant-Man.”

    She was shocked. “Scott's alive? How?”

    “When he realized he was in danger, he shrunk down, but got knocked out. And he hasn't been able to grow ever since. He's staying with Cassie for now. He helped her and her friends out with a mission that we had recently.” Philip tilted his head a bit and asked “How did you get involved in all this?”

    For a little while Bonita contemplated giving them a different story than the truth. But after thinking about what they had said to her, she decided they needed to know everything. “I was getting ready to have dinner one night when Wanda showed up on my doorstep.”

    Magdalene said “So that's what happened to her. Simon asked Tony about that, but he said she'd escaped and no one knew where she had gone. I doubt that you would have been one of the people they would have checked in with. So what happened then?”

    “I debated for a little while over whether or not I should trust her, but went with my instincts on this one. She told me she'd remembered her children for a long time now, and had nothing to do with what happened at the mansion. And when she told me that, I remembered her getting that photo album from Vision, and realized that my mind had been manipulated in some way. So we both decided to try and get to the bottom of this.”

    “Before that, did you have any doubts about whether or not Wanda had done what she was supposed to have done?”

    It hurt a bit to admit the truth. “I did wonder why no one had noticed any signs that would come with a mental breakdown like that, but I never really doubted the story I was told. I just thought that there had to have been something else going on. How did you feel?”

    “When Philip and I started talking, before we went to check out the ruins, we both were in agreement that something wasn't adding up here. But with our pretty low status on the Avengers, neither one of us felt like we could say anything to anyone. I don't know why we felt that way. I mean, we didn't really know Wanda well, and who was to say that what was being said wasn't true?”

    “Did Simon ever express having any feelings of doubt prior to meeting up with you?”

     Philip was now the one to speak. “According to him, he didn't think anything of it until he went to see his mother. Then she told him that it wasn't possible for Wanda to have gone mad remembering her children, because they'd met up a few weeks ago and had talked about them for a while. That was when he recalled hearing her do the same thing with him in the past. And he told us that he'd had a similar bout of memory lapsing around the first time Vision was destroyed.”

    The previous incident might not have had any connection to what was happening right now, but given how things were going Bonita was positive there was a connection. “Have you spoken to Mrs. Williams at any time?”

    “No. Since she's Simon's mother, we didn't want to take chances that she would become a target. We've tried to see if anything's happened since she spoke with him, and so far it seems alright.”

    Bonita vowed to ask Wanda what she thought about the issue when she got back. Changing the subject for now, she asked “So what have you been doing? And how do you know that Simon doesn't remember any of this?”

    “Mostly we've been seeing if there are any unusual attacks happening or if someone tries to go after us. So far there's been nothing out of the ordinary that we can see. In regards to the second part of your question, Cassie told us that she and her friend went to speak with Simon because once she learned Scott was alive she also realized that something was very wrong. Her friend knew he was in town, so they somehow were able to go meet with him. During that meeting, Mag called him again – we'd been trying to get a hold of him for a while, because he wasn't getting in touch with us about the people who knew Wanda that he was talking to. When he got the call, he just said that he'd been getting calls from our number for a while but didn't know who it might be. Then Cassie got the number, and we all met up together.”

    Either Simon had learned something that was threatening or his investigation had been enough to try and silence him. “I need to ask you a question: Have either one of you heard of anyone going by the name Robert Reynolds?”

    Both Magdalene and Philip shook their heads. Magdalene sounded concerned as she asked “Is that the person who's been causing all this trouble? How did you find out his name?”

    “Wanda did some spell to see who was causing all the trouble. He's sent some shadow creatures after us at one point, and we came back out east because of a dream that led us to a woman who had quite a few things to share with us.” She didn't feel comfortable talking about Anna in a public location, especially with what she had heard happened to Simon. If Anna were to forget having ever met them, then who knew what could possibly happen next?

    “I wish that I could say we knew the man, but I've never met anyone going by that name. I don't think that even in our world was there any kind of villain who was known to use the name Robert Reynolds. Have you been able to learn anything about him?”

    “No. Unfortunately, no matter where we've looked we've found nothing. I don't know if that's because he's hiding his tracks or if simply he hasn't been noticed up until now. But from what we've seen, the man is extremely dangerous and should be considered capable of anything.”

    Philip said “Then I'm not certain we should be discussing this here. Where are you staying now? Do you think that we could meet up soon?”

    “I think that tonight would work out pretty well. Let me get you the address.” Bonita jotted it down on a slip of paper, and said “Around eight or so should be the best time to meet. Is that okay with you?”

    “Yeah, we can make it then. So we're going to go now. Mag and I don't want to draw any attention from this Robert right now. We have no idea what he might be capable of doing right now.”

    Bonita also said farewell, and went to call Wanda. She didn't get an answer right away, but waited to see if she got a call in a few minutes. And that was exactly what happened.

   Now she was opening the door to the Altman home, hoping that she hadn't managed to beat Wanda there. Fortunately, she was right at the door waiting for her. "So what happened?"

    "I met up with two other Avengers who are also looking into what happened. The Swordsman and Magdalene - have you ever heard of them?"

    "I remember having done a few things with them in the past. But I don't understand why they would be looking into all this in the first place."

    "According to Magdalene, they were talking about what happened and why it didn't make sense to them when someone showed up and told them to check the ruins. They met up with Simon when they were there, and decided to check things out more closely, especially when Simon told them about what his mother told him."

    "Oh, yes. I'd spoken with Martha a few weeks back, talking about how I was planning on honoring the twins' birthday in some way. I hope that we've gotten things under control by then. So is Simon involved? Can we speak to him?"

    She hated to have to burst her bubble. "Based on what I've heard, that's not going to happen. Philip said that they've been trying to get in touch with him for a while, but they heard from someone else that he has no idea who was calling him. They know they gave him the number, so he should have known who it was. And when he was asked about you, he didn't act like he knew what they were talking about. I think that he's had his memories impacted by our enemy, but I don't know if that means he ran into this Robert somewhere along the way or if he's been watching over Simon for whatever reason."

    Wanda pondered the issue for a period of time. "I have a few theories as to what might be happening with us, but I need to get some confirmation before taking action. So after we've had dinner, I'm going to need some time alone. I'll have to ask Anna if there's a place where I can go."

    Bonita wondered what those theories might be, and what Wanda needed to do to test them. "Where is Anna right now?"

    "She left a note saying she was going to the store. I think she should be back soon. What time did Philip and Magdalene say they were planning on coming over?"

    "Eight. I didn't tell them anything about the children, though."

    "Do you just not trust them, or are you afraid we're still being watched?"

    "I would say more of the latter. If this was some kind of trick, wouldn't it work better if it involved people that we trusted instead of virtual strangers? And I don't really know what either Magdalene or Philip are capable of handling."

    Wanda nodded. "Then we need to talk to Anna about them coming over. She may not want to be around when we talk. I'm still not sure how much she's willing to share with others."

    Bonita knew that Anna probably wasn't going to say that their visitors couldn't come over, based on what she'd seen thus far, but spending time with them was another story entirely. She just nodded, and waited for her to come back so they could iron the details out.

* * *

 

    Anna had volunteered her room as a good place for Wanda to get the privacy she needed. By this point she was almost certain that Robert Reynolds was some kind of spell-caster, and that she was in over her head in trying to deal with that kind of threat. So getting outside help was becoming far more dire than it had before.

    The spell she was going to be doing was a variation on the one she had used to look at Pietro. This time around, she would be able to speak to whoever she was looking at. Her only hope was that Stephen had not placed any spells over himself to prevent that type of communication today.

    While his words condemning her still hurt to think about (although Wanda couldn't remember what exactly had been said), Stephen was still the best person to talk to about anything magical. She was planning on being careful, however. If his reaction to her was hostile in any way, then she would not go forward with asking any of her questions. Since he was not going to recognize her surroundings, Wanda doubted he would be able to track her down if things turned out badly. But even if that was the outcome, she now had proof of her sanity and several allies who would stand with her against the Avengers, if that was what it took.

    As she did what was required of her, Wanda watched the glass sphere begin to show her where Stephen was right now. She expected to see him researching, or having a meal, or taking care of some important business.

    What she saw, however, was none of those things.

    Stephen was sitting at his desk in his study, with a teacup and a bottle of whiskey on top of the desk. There were some papers visible, but he wasn't paying any attention to them. His hands were also lying on top, and Wanda thought that they were shaking more than usual. He turned his head to look at something that wasn't in sight, then turned back to look at the bottle, and finally looked down at his hands.

    As Wanda kept on watching, she heard a shaky breath coming from Stephen, and finally he gasped and began to cry. He buried his head in his hands the best he could do, and continued to weep. The sound was so awful that Wanda had to end the spell, knowing that there was nothing she could do.

    Nothing had prepared her for this. She had no idea that Stephen was in such pain. Even if she had wanted him to feel some of she had on that day, this went far beyond that. This was pure misery, and she couldn't believe that it was just because of something that had happened. Had this been the reason Agatha had been pushing her towards studying with him? If so, then why hadn't she come out and said it? How had no one realized this? That thought was then followed by Wanda trying to think of the last time anyone had spent significant time with him, save for Wong. She had to go so far back that she gave up after a moment or two.

    She sat there for a while, trying to think of what to do next. Should she bring this up during the meeting with Philip and Magdalene? What purpose would that serve? It wasn't very likely that they would be able to go to Stephen and talk to him about how he was feeling. Was this part of Robert's attack on the Avengers? After all, if the Sorcerer Supreme was taken down there would be one less risk to your plans being successful, especially if you were also a magic user.

    Wanda eventually got up and headed back into the living room. Right now she couldn't do anything for Stephen, so she promised herself that when this was said and done she was going to start visiting Stephen at the very least. Bonita saw her coming and asked "How did it go?"

    "I was trying to talk to someone, but I couldn't get a hold of them." It was a lie, but the truth was only going to cause problems right now. "We should get ready for when our guests come."

    Bonita agreed, and the two set off preparing.

 


	19. Convergence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All those involved meet, and plan for the future.

    Both Philip and Magdalene were nervous heading into their meeting with Wanda and Bonita. Not personally knowing either of them all that well, they didn't entirely expect to be welcomed with open arms. They could be seen as potential threats, or just as being not all that helpful. Magdalene rang the doorbell, and was greeted by a blonde woman who was looking them over very carefully. "You must be the visitors Bonita said we would be having tonight. I'm Anna Altman."

    "I'm Magdalene, and this is Philip. It's nice to meet you, Anna." She nodded in response, but didn't say anything else. She took that as a sign that it would be okay to come inside.

    "Wanda and Bonita are in the living room," Anna said quietly. She directed them both to where that was.

    Seeing the two Avengers sitting on the couch made Magdalene wonder if it had been a good idea to come here. Wanda was one of the people who you could count on as being a high-tier hero, and Bonita may not have been as well known, but still might be recognized by others. She wondered why it felt different meeting them than it had meeting up with Simon. Maybe the difference there was how they had just run into him by chance, instead of a planned meeting.

    Wanda smiled at them. "Hi. Philip and Magdalene. I'm sorry that I don't know you as well as I could. I've seen both of you at Avengers things, but I don't think that we've had a chance to speak to each other."

    Philip answered "No. It's not always easy for us to talk to the other Avengers. I think that we know what kind of status we have, and it almost feels like we're intruding in all those times. But once we got that message, we couldn't just forget about it."

    "The message, yes. Bonita told me a bit about it. Can you tell me anything about the person you saw before you went to the mansion?"

    He thought about it for a moment. "An older woman, not someone either of us knew. She looked pretty serious, and said that we have to go there to save everyone. I don't know if that's going to be any help to you."

    Wanda clasped her hands. "Yes, it is. That must be Agatha! So she has some idea of what's happening. It would explain why she was acting strangely when we last talked. I hope that I can see her soon. Even if she's not alive, I still trust her to get a message across." Magdalene must have shown confusion on her face, because when Wanda's eyes met hers she said "Agatha is my teacher in magic. I'll tell you more about her later."

    Bonita was the next to speak up. "I didn't tell Wanda about what you've learned so far. But now I'm going to speak. Scott is alive."

    She blinked. "Scott's alive? How? I saw his bones."

    Magdalene said "All we've learned is through his daughter, and one message via ants. He shrunk down to avoid the blast, but got knocked out and hasn't been able to grow ever since. He's checked out his equipment, but everything is working other than him becoming a normal size again."

    "Is he with Cassie? I would think he would have to be, if she's sending you information. How did she know to get in contact with you?"

    "She didn't know, per se. She had gone to talk with Simon about what had happened with you along with a friend of hers, but he wasn't helping. And I called him during their meeting, and then she got the number. And we met up, and decided we needed to do something."

    Bonita asked "What was it you decided to do? You mentioned a mission earlier. Would this be it?"

    This wasn't going to be as easy to talk about as she wanted. If it had just been Bonita, then there wouldn't have been the personal connection that Wanda had to Vision. Even if they weren't actually together anymore, she clearly still cared about him very much. "Yes. Philip and I were trying to think of who else might be able to help out, and the best one we could think of was Vision. Once we realized that he wasn't around, we knew he had to be kept somewhere. Cassie was able to speak with Tony and learn where that place was, and from there we were able to get him out with help from a bunch of her friends. One of them has been working to see if we can restore him in some way, but so far nothing's come of that."

    Wanda stated "That wouldn't really surprise me. If you don't know enough about how Vision is, then you couldn't really be expected to help him out. It would be like a random person plucked out of a crowd being asked to perform brain surgery. I'm thinking that we're going to have to get Hank involved if we have any hope of seeing him again."

    Bonita added "I'm more than glad to speak with him on the issue. I wonder why Tony didn't think of doing that earlier? It's not like him or Steve to just leave a team member without any thought."

    Philip went on to say "That's something I've wondered about myself. And how come as of now the only person I know besides myself who questioned the story we were given was Mag? We barely know Wanda, so why us? Neither of us really believed that she was the culprit even before we got that message."

    Wanda then looked over to Bonita, who shook her head. "Not me, not really. Until you showed up I thought that you had done everything, but that there might have been more to the story than just Jan saying something, and snap! You're crazy."

    "I think I might have an idea." Anna's voice was so quiet that it was hard to hear her. "Wanda, you and Bonita have said that you think this Robert you're looking for can affect your memories, correct?"

    "That is what we're working with right now, unless something else comes up to explain it."

    "So what if in order for him to do that he has to know the person he's doing it to? Bonita may have had some doubts because while he knew of her, she wouldn't have been a focus. And Philip and Magdalene haven't been heard of by nearly anyone. So might he have gone and just paid attention to the ones he knew the most about?"

    It was the first thing Magdalene had heard about all this that made sense. Anna was right in saying no one had heard of them, so why would you expect Robert Reynolds to know more? "It would make sense with what happened with Simon. After we ran into him at the mansion, he said that he had no doubts about anything until his mother spoke to him and said it wasn't true. And later, when he was going around speaking to people Wanda knew, that must have gotten Robert's attention. So he wiped his mind of anything related to his investigation."

    "Also not many people would think about the parents of heroes. Most of the time we exist in sort of a vacuum. Once again, he wouldn't have thought of Martha as being able to knock down the house of cards." Wanda looked to be accepting her idea. "Were you able to get anything about how Scott felt?"

    "Cassie said that he was shocked to hear that you had done everything. So I guess he might not have been affected. Maybe since he was thought to be dead it didn't seem important to look at him."

    She slowly nodded her head. "I can see that. The question in regards to Scott is whether or not he was intended to not make it through the attack or if he was just someone who got in the way."

    "There's one other thing that Philip and I have been thinking about. We're wondering if the person doing this has some kind of connection to the Avengers. That would be a reason that he was able to get Simon to forget what he learned. After he saw that photo album, he knew that you hadn't gone crazy because of hearing about your children. I think up until that moment he still had doubts."

    "Oh, you found my hiding place. I put some of my things there to keep them safe if the mansion was to get attacked then. Did you just take the photo album, or do you have everything?"

    Philip replied with "I went back at one point to get the whole chest. It didn't feel right leaving it there. Do you want it back now?"

    "Just the photos. I'm going to need them pretty soon."

    There was something in Wanda's face that was so happy about those words. Magdalene knew there was something she wasn't sharing with them, but chose not to ask for now.

    Bonita was thinking through everything, judging by the look on her face. "I've thought for a while that Robert has to have some connection to the Avengers, based on what he's done so far. But at the same time, what made him decide to go after Wanda? If you were angry at the team for something, then I would think that either Steve or Tony would be the one you would target."

    "Well, Steve wouldn't really be a good choice for something like that, with how everyone respects him. Tony might have been a target in the beginning, given that he looked like he'd been drinking during that speech he was giving. Still, there wasn't anything else that was clearly directed at him except for maybe what Cassie told us. She said Tony's been having these headaches lately, and he doesn't know why. Also, this may not be connected, but his friend Rhodey has been around recently. I'm not sure if that's because of Robert or something else, though."

    Now Wanda was looking at her. "Do you think it would be possible for Scott to come and meet with us at some point? I want to check him out and see if I can find a reason for his lack of growth."

    "I'll call Cassie later tonight, if not tomorrow. Do you want her to come, too?"

    "No, I'd rather keep her in the dark a little. If she doesn't know where I am, then there's no way she can be pressed for that information. I'm hoping that will keep her and her friends safe."

    Philip by now had another question to ask. "Wanda, could you maybe walk us through what went on leading up to and during the attack on the mansion? You were the only one of us that was there the entire time, and maybe hearing it all put together can help us make more sense of it all."

    She waited for a while, taking several breaths. "While I didn't recognize it at the time, the first clue I got that something wasn't right was that day with Jan by the pool. We were just hanging around, talking about stuff, and then out of the blue she suddenly mentions Billy and Tommy. And she didn't even call them by their names, just said I'd once thought I had children. Her tone was just so off that I should have gone and spoken to someone, but at the time I was too hurt to think clearly. I got up and left, and didn't speak to Jan for a while after that."

    Bonita asked "How did Jan act afterwards?"

    "Just like normal. She did try and speak to me a few times, but I was able to deflect her with a few excuses. I got over it after a bit, but I wondered what had gotten into her. Jan's never been cruel to people. That was out of place, and the fact that later on she didn't even seem to know she had done anything bothered me."

    Magdalene wondered, "Did she ever bring up the issue again with you?"

    "No. It was like it never happened." Wanda broke off as a new thought occurred to her. "In fact, how did anyone else know about what she said? No one but us was there to hear it, and I didn't tell anyone on the team about what happened. The only person I shared the story with was Agatha."

    "If she was the one who sent the message to Philip and Magdalene, she has to have some kind of knowledge of what's happening. I wish that we could discover what really happened with her."

    "I think that she's probably dead." Wanda's voice was quieter than it had been before. "If she was alive, then I can't see her just standing by while I'm blamed for everything. But there's still one thing with her that doesn't add up. After Vision had been taken and lost his emotions, she showed up in California saying things about the boys that just weren't true. And she never said a thing about it later on, even though with her magic she could have seen something. She should have done something when Master Pandemonium came and said they were his souls. But except for the times we talked about my memories having been taken away the whole thing was just never acknowledged."

    "Do you think that she might have known the truth about Billy and Tommy?" Bonita asked.

    "During our last conversation, she talked about mending things. But it was vague enough that I didn't think it pointed to anything."

    Redirecting things, Magdalene said "So what happened on the day of the attack?"

    "I was going with Tony to his speech, which was unplanned. Jan was going to go with him, but she couldn't make it. He seemed fine up until he started acting like he was drunk. I couldn't believe it, since he had seemed fine earlier. Not many other people were believing that, save for Steve. And a little bit after that we were attacked. I just tried my best to do what I could to help out. I started to suspect that there was something of a magical nature going on due to all the different things that were happening, but until Stephen showed up I wasn't a hundred percent certain."

    Philip then asked "Do you remember what it was that he said?"

    "Other than me being the one who was responsible? No. I know Bonita's said that she doesn't know what was said, either."

    "Neither do we, and Simon also said he couldn't remember it. How do you think Robert might have done that? Was it the result of some kind of magic? I really can't say that I know anything about that sort of thing, but everyone was so willing to jump to the conclusion that you were using magic of some kind against all of us, so I'm betting it's likely. But I don't know for certain."

    Wanda explained to Philip, "Even before Stephen arrived, I was thinking that there had to be some kind of magic being used here, if only because there didn't seem to be any other way that we would be under attack by so many varying groups at once. The bigger question for me would be if he was using something like the chaos magic I have, or if it was something else. There's also the matter of whether or not he's had any training in this, or if it just came to him one day."

    "Which one would be worse?" Magdalene asked.

    "The second. Any time you go through training to use magic, you start to learn your limits and how far you can go. If I hadn't gotten the lessons I did from Agatha, I never would have been able to accomplish what I've done for the team, just because I never would have thought I had control over what my powers could do."

    "So do you think that Robert has no control over what he's doing? Is that why he's a danger?"

    Bonita was the one to answer her this time. "No. There's been a pattern of what he's done that's targeted specific people. If he was really out of control like that, then while you might see some similarities in the people he was lashing out at, it wouldn't be focused on direct targets. I think that the bigger concern is how using something like that might be affecting his ethics."

    "Exactly. For all we know in that case, Robert Reynolds might have been a good man once, but imagine that you've all of a sudden found out that you can do all these things that you were never able to do before. Most of us would start trying to do them more often, but if the power is coming from a dark source the over time you're going to start doing things differently than before. And if attacking the Avengers is going to help you to get what you want, then why not go and do it?"

    "That would explain why looking at any enemies the Avengers have hasn't produced anything. He's not going to be found among them. So what does he want? I haven't heard of anyone trying to ask any kind of favors from them recently, and what he would get over seeing the team fall apart isn't really clear."

    One idea had just occurred to Magdalene. "When you were saying earlier that no one should have known about what Jan said to you except Agatha, I wonder if Robert might have heard about it more directly. Do you think he could have been impersonating her when you went to speak with her?"

    The idea didn't sit well with her. "You could be right. But... I just can't believe it. If that were true, when did it happen? The best place would be when I first thought she was dead, before I became pregnant, but I've never had her give me bad advice when we've spoken after that. He seems to have such a grudge against me, with framing me for all these horrible things. He could have done anything to me if we were alone. So I'm not going to jump down that path quite yet."

    Philip now asked "What do you think we should do next? I doubt that we could just go to the Avengers and tell them what we know so far. They're not going to accept Wanda telling them that the real culprit is this Robert. Even if we go and show them the photo album, I think they still might just say that the only reason we have is due to her desire to have a family being so strong that she put down evidence of that, just to feel comforted."

    "They might say that. But we've got something else under our sleeves." Bonita looked over at Wanda. "Do you want to tell them now, or should we wait?"

    "Now." Wanda's face was glowing. "Billy and Tommy are alive."

    Both Philip and Magdalene had their jaws drop. "How? What happened?"

    "I still don't know what actually happened, but when Master Pandemonium attacked they weren't absorbed into him like it seemed. Instead they wound up here, in Anna's backyard. She took them in and when we came to tell her about how we were afraid that she was in danger, Tommy came downstairs and knew who I was."

    It seemed to be the perfect outcome, but there was one thing nagging at her. "Why didn't Anna go to the police and tell them about finding two children? If that were to happen to me, it would be the first thing that I would do."

    Bonita and Wanda looked over in the direction of Anna, who had been standing between the living room and the kitchen. She nodded and said "It's all right. They're Avengers. They can help."

    "Then I'll tell them." Bonita looked over at them and said "Anna's not from Earth. She's fled from the Skrull Empire with Anelle and Mar-Vell's son Teddy. There was some instability in the leadership, and Anelle thought Teddy would be better off here. But they had to leave so quickly that there wasn't any time to get the documents they needed. Basically, both of them are literal illegal aliens right now. Anna couldn't go to the police because she was afraid they would have questions she couldn't answer, and she also didn't know who's children Billy and Tommy were. Since they were so young, they couldn't tell her what she would have needed to know to find Wanda and Vision."

    For the first time Anna spoke without prompting. "I don't know much about what's happening beyond my home. I thought that I would learn who was missing children so I could return them, but when I didn't see anything I wonder if their parents might be dead. That's what I think has happened to Anelle, because she only contacted us twice in the early months, and both times she said it didn't look good. But I still try to hold out some kind of hope."

    "And as time went on, it would have become harder and harder to go to anyone, because then there would be all kinds of questions as to why you didn't do anything before," Magdalene guessed.

    She nodded. "I wish I had done something, though. Billy and Tommy missed their family so much, and I helped to keep them from that."

    "You know that we don't hold it against you. What if someone had been watching for any sign of you, and then the story of the woman who found two abandoned children became public?" Wanda seemed to have accepted what happened fairly well: after all, if Anna hadn't been there then who knows who might have found the boys?

    "So now what do you think we should do? We can't just sit back and wait for our enemy to do something, but how are we going to know where to look? Wanda, you mentioned Stephen earlier. Is there some way you think that we could get him to help us out? Based on what I know of the man, he would surely know some way to learn more."

    Wanda's answer to Philip's suggestion was "I don't think that's possible right now."

    "You think that he's not going to be willing to listen to us, or that he's so convinced of your guilt that nothing is going to make a difference?"

    She shook her head. "There are other issues that make going to him not an option right now."

    Magdalene for a few moments wondered if she had a crush on him or something. She sounded like there was something wrong, but didn't look like someone who was dealing with unresolved romantic feelings. "Do you think that there's anyone else who might be able to help us?"

    Bonita piped in. "If we need someone who has some training in magic, how about Holly? She told me that she's been keeping up with her studies over the years, and wants to try and help you out in some manner, Wanda."

    "That could work out. But it would work best if we had either Philip or Magdalene go and arrange the meeting. After we fought those shadows, there's no way Robert doesn't know we're working together. Holly might not be strong enough to fend him off."

    Philip asked "What about Vision? I'm guessing that Robert's responsible for him being left like he was, because I can't believe that Steve and Tony would just forget about him like that. I'm guessing that we're going to have to go and speak with Hank, but how should we go about doing that and not draw any attention to ourselves?"

    "That is going to be trouble. Neither of you know Hank and Jan well enough to have a plausible reason for dropping in one day, and with their status as Avengers Robert is most likely keeping an eye on them. Maybe there's a way we can communicate without having to directly approach them."

    "Maybe not us. I think that I've got an idea. Cassie knows Hank and Jan fairly well, right? She could go to them and tell them what's up. From there we could see how it might be possible to speak further." Bonita continued with "I would be more than happy to go myself, but I don't know them particularly well myself and I'm someone who's already been known to be working with Wanda. So I'm probably an even worse option than you or Magdalene."

    That sounded like a good place to start. "Then tomorrow I'll call Cassie and arrange for a good time for Scott to come meet with you and for her to go see Hank. Is there anything else that you think we should be doing." Wanda and Bonita shook their heads. "All right. I think we should go now."

    Magdalene got up, but Philip had one more thing to say to Anna. "Has this Robert come after you yet?"

    "I don't know. I've had a few times when I've felt like someone was watching me, but I never was able to see them. And Teddy spotted a man who seemed to be following us once, but I don't know if that was him or if it was someone from home." She sighed. "I don't know which one would be worse."

    "If you think that you see anything that feels wrong, let us know right away. If things get bad enough Mag and I might be able to help you find a place to stay."

    "My only contact from home has said I need to go to the Avengers and tell them about Teddy. Before I wasn't willing to do so because of not being able to explain the twins, and thinking they would believe I was a kidnapper or something."

    "We'll cross that road when we come to it," said Wanda. "Anna, is there some way we could get a message delivered without having it come directly to the house?"

    "There's a coffee shop downtown I go to fairly regularly. Kasher, one of the workers, is friendly with me. Any messages could go through him."

    "That should work out. We'll speak with him as soon as we can." Bonita stood up and went to shake Philip and Magdalene's hands. "I'm glad we got a chance to meet each other. I hope we can keep on working together whenever the need may arise."

    "I hope we can too," Magdalene responded. It felt good to be doing something with other Avengers, to know that you were making a difference. "Thanks for having us, Anna. Good night."

    Anna smiled quickly and nodded, but did not return the farewell. Wanda did say "Get back to me as soon as you've set up the thing with Scott."

    “We will. See you guys later.”

* * *

 

    Scott was hoping both that things were going to turn out well when he met with Bonita and Wanda today, and that he would finally be able to get back to normal. It was a giant pain to have to resort to using ants constantly to get messages across to anyone who wasn't Cassie. He wanted to be able to get to actually know Philip and Magdalene, and thank them for doing what they had done. But until he could have his words be heard, that was going to have to wait.

    The way that they had planned to meet up wasn't exactly the most direct path. First of all he had left with Cassie while she headed off to school. At the intersection that was a block away from her destination, he stopped and waited for Philip to walk by. Once he did, he jumped onto him and waited to arrive at the home of one Anna Altman. A bit of work, but Scott knew that the others were right in pointing out the danger that Cassie would be in if it became known she was connecting with Bonita or Wanda.

    The biggest question he had right now was who this Anna was. During the trip, Philip had told him “I'll try to explain more once we get there. Mag's waiting for us to come. She was making some plans for tomorrow. We'll tell you about them as well.”

    He'd spelled out the question DO YOU KNOW HER?

    “Anna? Not really. She's a bit shy, so I don't know how much she'll have to say to you. I can see Mag now.” He waved at the woman standing near a house.

    “Everyone's kind of excited right now. I had to step out a minute. Can you hear me, Scott?”

    He indicated  _yes_ while wondering what the excitement could be. Neither of the Avengers already there were going to be surprised by him, and Anna didn't sound like she was the excitable sort. It could just be relief from Wanda that she'd found more people who were going to help out. He wanted to ask her why she'd gone to Bonita, since as far as he knew they weren't close.

    Philip rang the doorbell, and the thundering sound of many footsteps could be heard. “They're here! Get the door!” The voice was clearly that of a child, so Scott guessed Anna had children.

    The door flew open, and he could see three children in the area of the door. They all had different colored hair, and only two of them looked like brothers. The blond boy must have favored a different part of the family. The red-headed child was the first one to speak. “Hi, Uncle Philip and Aunt Magdalene. Do I have to speak real quiet for Uncle Scott?”

    Huh? This wasn't a nephew of his. (Not hard, since he didn't have any.) Scott didn't have to say anything, because he could hear Wanda saying “I think that he can hear you just fine. Can you go with Billy and Teddy to get your Aunt Bonita?”

    He nodded. “Okay, Mommy.” He looked at the others and said “Should we tell Aunt Anna, too?”

    His jaw dropped.  _Mommy?_ These were Billy and Tommy? What had happened? He was stunned, and it took a moment for him to hear Wanda saying, “No, she's not coming. It's an Avengers meeting, so it's okay if she's not here.” Once the children were gone, she looked and Philip and Magdalene. “Scott, I'm sorry I couldn't tell you sooner, but it was important to keep it a secret. I've found out that Billy and Tommy are alive, and have been living with Anna since I lost them.”

    Magdalene went on to explain “Because of what's going on with Anna's life, she couldn't go to the police or anything like that, and she had no idea they were Vision and Wanda's children. So there wasn't a chance to put the pieces together until Bonita and her showed up one night.”

    “That's pretty much what happened.” Bonita was now entering the living room where they had all gone after the children left. “We would have never figured it out if we hadn't had dreams that were directing us towards Anna. Wanda thinks that it was Agatha who sent them, but I haven't ruled out our enemy here.”

    Philip then asked him “Do you know anyone named Robert Reynolds?”

    NO, he answered. There had been a Bobby Raymond who he'd known from prison, but the last he'd heard from him he was now running his own business in San Juan. Bobby was also one of the least threatening people in the world, so unless he'd suffered some major head trauma it probably wasn't him.

    “Not a surprise. By now I'm just going to stop asking people about him. Robert clearly has his tracks covered.”

    “So, can you tell us anything about what's going on with Scott? I don't know how Anna's going to feel about having these ants roaming around.” Magdalene raised a pretty valid point. How many people were going to want to have bugs crawling throughout their home, except Hank?

    Wanda did not answer. She closed her eyes, and for a few minutes no one said a single word. “There's magic surrounding Scott. It's bound you to the form you were in at the time that the spell was cast.”

    It was finally an answer. At least he didn't have to wonder about if there was just a mechanical issue he hadn't noticed. Bonita chimed in with “Does that prove that our Robert is using some kind of magic?”

    “I would say so. The disturbances he created at the mansion were a big clue, but I can't see anyone else who would have wanted Scott out of the way.”

    All he could think to ask was “Why me?”

    Once Wanda noticed the words, she sighed. “I wish I could tell you more. Maybe you did something that Robert didn't like, or just happened to be a convenient target. Until we find him, there's no way to know for certain.”

    Philip then said “Do you think you can make him normal again?”

    “I can try, but it seems complicated.” She shut her eyes once more, and Scott could feel himself changing. He hoped that he would be back to normal at the end, but wound up about the size of a mouse.

    With the change in size, his stomach began rumbling. “Uh, any chance I could get something to eat here?”

    Everyone laughed. Magdalene said “I've got some crackers in my bag, if you want them.”

    “Oh, yes.” He only needed two of them before feeling satiated once more. “At least now I can talk to people again. So what should I do now?”

   Bonita said “I know that you're going to want to return to Cassie, but I don't think you should stick around for very long. That's one thing we wanted to talk to you about. Tomorrow, we were thinking about having Cassie and maybe one of her friends go over to see Hank and Jan. Hank's the only one we know of who can help us with Vision, and he is someone who we need on our side.”

    There was undoubtedly a more personal reason for wanting him back. Scott knew that he would want to know that his children were still alive, because the pain of losing them had never gone away. He'd known that from the look he had when he'd given Wanda the photos as his gift to her last Christmas. “Why Cass? Couldn't one of you go? I know you couldn't, Wanda, but there shouldn't be any problem with Philip or Magdalene dropping in.”

    “Because that would look too suspicious. They don't really know Hank or Jan, and if Robert's watching other Avengers he's going to wonder why they've showed up,” she explained.

    “All right. I'll tell Cassie about it tonight. She might not be able to make it tomorrow, though.”

    “As long as she can go it should be fine,” Wanda said, having been silent since she had tried to restore him. “Scott, I'm sorry things didn't work out the way I wanted them to. There's just too many layers to the magic here. I'm going to need someone to help me out.”

    Well, he now knew that this wasn't going to be permanent. “I've waited for a while now anyway. I can handle it being a bit longer.” Scott then asked “Do you think I should go with Cassie?”

    The others all looked at each other. “I'm not sure. It would sure help Hank to believe what's going on, but on the other hand I'm still nervous about putting Cassie at risk by doing so,” was Bonita's answer.

    “What choice do we have, though? The odds of Hank deciding right off the bat he's going to help aren't all that great, given what we saw happen with Simon. Hopefully if he and Jan are able to actually speak with him then what they're hearing might sink in better.”

    Philip was right, based on what he knew. “I'm not letting Cass go into this alone. I've seen enough of what this Robert Reynolds can do. I need to be with my daughter.” He had another question to ask, one that he was not certain could be answered. “There was one thing that I've been wondering about. Do you think that Maggie coming to get custody of Cassie was also part of this guy's plans?”

    “Hmm. It does seem odd that she would show up after so long and be able to win in court. But without any kind of proof that there was some kind of magic involved I'm not going to say anything.”

    Bonita then said “So let's outline our plans for later. Scott's going to talk with Cassie tonight about going to see Hank and Jan, and then explaining that we have Vision but can't figure out how we can bring him back. Depending on how things go, we might tell them the truth about Wanda's innocence, but no matter what we aren't going to mention the children or Anna. Any questions?”

    They shook their heads.

    “Then let's get started.”

 


	20. Plan of Attack

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hank and Jan learn the truth, and begin to rally more forces in Wanda's favor. And the Sentry becomes aware of how he must proceed against Anna if he wishes to carry out his plans.

    While Cassie had spent time with Hank Pym in the past, this was the first time she had ever been to Jan's home. She had made the call to him the day before, asking if it was possible to drop in at some point.

    Hank's reaction had been to say “Of course you can come over, Cassie. I know how hard all of this has been for you. I'm guessing your mother isn't going to mind?”

    “She won't even care.” And that was all she was planning on saying about that. “Is it alright if I bring a friend along with me?”

    “That would depend on who the friend is.”

    “His name's Miles, and I think that you'd like to meet him. He's not going to do anything, I promise.” Cassie hoped that she wasn't going to have to say much more on the matter. The real reason that she wanted Miles there was because of the chance there was going to be trouble by going to Hank. It made sense why she was a better option than sending anyone else. Philip, Magdalene, and Bonita all either didn't know Hank and Jan well or had a history that would make showing up someday seem rather odd. Anna Altman was a complete stranger, and Wanda was likely going to be in too much danger by heading out.

    Hank thought about it for a little while. “I guess it should be okay. I'm looking forward to seeing you.”

    Now she was standing with Miles, waiting to be let in. And then there was the third person.

    It was a good thing that Dad was at least a little bigger, because now you could actually talk to him without having to be less than an inch tall. He had told her that Wanda was working to get someone to help out with resolving the magic that was keeping him from growing. “And when I get back to normal, I'm going to want the biggest meal that you can get me, so please be on standby.” She'd promised him that she would be more than happy to do so.

    The door opened, and Jan was standing there with a big smile on her face. “Cassie! I'm so glad to see you.” She wrapped her in a hug. “You must be Cassie's friend. I'm Jan. It's nice to meet you.”

    “Thanks... Jan.” Miles didn't sound all that comfortable with being so familiar with someone who he didn't know all that well, and was also a founding member of the Avengers.

    “Let me go tell Hank you're here. Make yourselves comfortable.” She walked off, and Cassie gestured to Miles to come with her and have a seat.

    He kept looking around, saying “I never thought that the Wasp's home was going to look like this.”

    She raised an eyebrow. “What were you expecting?”

    “Uh, like servants and stuff? The things you see in the movies when there are really rich people.”

    “That wouldn't be practical for Jan. Up until she went public with her identity, there would have been too much involved in keeping things under wraps.” Cassie really couldn't laugh at Miles's idea of what life was like for the super rich, since up until she'd met Uncle Tony she'd had the same ideas. Not only did he just seem like anyone else you might meet, he treated everyone exactly the same. He even knew the name of the janitor who worked in the main building as well as his wife! Admittedly, Tony Stark was seen as an oddity among his peers for the way he acted around others, but he did offer a different view on what someone with so much might be like in real life.

    Miles shifted the subject, asking “Where's your dad?”

   “Right now he's in one of the compartments of my backpack. He's going to come out as soon as Hank gets here.” Having Dad come out first had been what she'd decided would be best when she spoke with Bonita earlier today. The whole Vision thing had to be eased into to a certain degree, because Cassie had a pretty good feeling that just mentioning what she had done was not going to go over all that well. Philip and Magdalene weren't likely to be seen as people who's advice was the best due to their lack of familiarity with all the other team members. But _Ant-Man_ had been well-acquainted with Hank and Jan even before he joined the Avengers officially. His approval would mean a bit more.

    Seeing Hank when he entered the room made Cassie's stomach clench. The gravity of what they were doing was just now sinking in. Once the big guns got called in, there was no way to go back. She forced back those feelings and said “Hi, Hank.”

    “Glad to see you too, Cassie. You must be Miles.” He extended his hand.

    Miles reached out and shook it. “It's an honor to meet you, Dr. Pym.”

    “Hank's fine.” He sat down as Jan entered the room. “So, was there something in particular that you needed to talk with me about, or did you just want to touch base?”

    Cassie merely placed her backpack on the ground, and a voice could now be heard saying “Sorry we had to meet up like this, Hank.”

    Hank stumbled to his feet, in shock. “Scott?”

    “That would be me. I hope I didn't scare you too much.”

    Jan was the one to ask the obvious question. “How is it you're still alive? And why are you still so small?”

    “Well, when I realized that something was going to happen I shrunk down to get away, but I got knocked out. Then, to make matters worse, I couldn't get back to normal. Believe it or not, up until a few days ago I was much smaller than this. I've been told that there's some magic on me that's keeping me from growing, and that it's been put in place by someone named Robert Reynolds. I'm guessing you wouldn't know him?” They both shook their heads. “Figures. So far nobody seems to know the guy. Not counting you, that's around six no's we've gotten.”

    Hank by now seemed to have digested Scott's sudden appearance. “So what happened after you realized that you were stuck?”

    “Went to Cassie. She told me about what had happened, but I had something to tell her: I knew that Wanda couldn't have done what she was supposed to have done, because I could remember her talking to me about her children before that.” He was silent for a while to let that sink in. “She wasn't sure what to do until a friend of hers mentioned that Simon was in town. They went to meet up with him, and when he got a strange phone call they were able to get the number.”

    “Was the person who was calling the Robert Reynolds you mentioned earlier?” asked Hank.

    “No. It was Philip Javert, the Swordsman. He and Magdalene had gotten a message telling them to check out the ruins of the mansion, and they ran into Simon there. Simon had been talking to his mother about what had happened, and she told him the same thing I told Cassie, that Wanda couldn't have gone crazy by being reminded of her children because she already knew about them.”

    Jan's hand flew to cover her mouth. “Oh, God. I can remember that now. Last Christmas, Vision got her that photo album that was full of pictures of the boys. She said it was the sweetest thing anyone had ever done for her. How could I have forgotten that?”

    Cassie said “I'm guessing that for whatever reason that Robert made you all do it. The only people we've met so far who didn't really think that she was the one who caused all of the trouble were Philip and Magdalene.”

    Miles went on to say “And we're thinking that the reason for that is that since they aren't really very well known, that he didn't think to mess with their minds in the same way he did with the others.”

    Hank looked over at them, and asked “Do you know if Wanda's okay? The only time I asked about her Steve said she'd escaped and no one knew where she had gone. It's funny how that didn't seem to matter to me when I first heard it. It was along the lines of 'oh, too bad,' and then nothing.”

    Dad said “I do know where she is now. But I can't tell you where that is. I will say that she went to get help from Bonita Juarez, and she has been working with her ever since. I only got to meet up with them a few days ago, and that was when Wanda told me that magic was causing my problem. She got me a little bit bigger, but said she was going to need help to totally fix me.”

    Jan replied "I can understand that you might not be able to tell us anything about Wanda's whereabouts, but could you send a message to her from me? I'd like to say I'm sorry for what happened that day at the pool. I know that even if she didn't lose her mind from hearing it, it still must have been painful to hear it."

    Miles was the one to answer with "Is it wrong to ask why you said it? You sound like you never wanted to cause any pain, so was something going on right then or did it just slip out?"

    There was a long pause. "It's funny to talk about. Before the words came out of my mouth I hadn't even thought about saying them. I was planning on asking Wanda about what she was going to be doing on the weekend, but instead I just came out with what I said. It wasn't until a few hours later that it sunk in what I had said, but I had no idea how I was going to respond. I mean, would you believe someone who said that they were sorry for having said something that was so hurtful, but didn't know why they'd said it?"

    Hank shook his head. "Jan, why didn't you say anything about that after the attack? It might have been a clue of what was really going on." He sounded much more concerned than upset, in spite of the words spoken.

    "Honestly, it didn't occur to me at the time of the attack that anything had been wrong with what happened. I said the wrong thing, and Wanda went crazy. It wasn't until the new team got put together that I started to go over events in my mind. I thought about bringing it up to someone, but I couldn't see it ending well. The best case scenario to me was everyone just brushing it off as something Wanda was doing subconsciously. Worst case, well, people would start to think that I was going crazy, too."

    "You didn't really have any doubts as to Wanda's guilt before we came here?" Miles sounded unsure of what kind of answer he expected to hear.

    Hank said "No. I will say that what happened with Jan getting hurt colored my view of the whole situation, but I didn't see any reason to doubt the facts. Thinking about it now makes we wonder how I didn't see the flaws being laid out. I'm familiar with what happens when you start to lose touch with reality." He glanced away, not wanting to spend much time on that topic. "And normally people can tell that something's wrong, even though most of the time they aren't able to say what that might be. It seems incredible that absolutely no one thought anything was wrong with Wanda up until the attack. So why didn't someone say something?"

    Jan responded with "I'm guessing that we had our minds messed with. I mean, look at how we've reacted in the past when one of our own has been accused of doing something terrible. I wonder if some of that was being used on Wanda so that she didn't go and proclaim her innocence right away. If she had, would we have just gone and shrugged our shoulders the way we did? Looking back, I can see that she saved Clint from almost certain death. That's not something you would expect out of the person who is bent on causing that level of destruction."

    Dad then said "And to make things worse for her, the person she could count on as being most likely to believe her was the first one to be taken out. Pietro was the only one left in her corner, and he wasn't going to be seen as credible."

    Jan nodded. "I've wondered why no one's come to Hank about restoring Vision. Every other time he's been hurt like this the team's always rushed to help him out. I can't believe that Tony would just leave him in a warehouse somewhere. That's not like him at all."

    It was the perfect opening. Cassie took a deep breath and said "And that's why we've come here. Miles and I a while back went with some others to go get Vision from where Uncle Tony was keeping him. Right now he's at Philip and Magdalene's, but they haven't been able to do anything. When they met up with Wanda and Bonita, they agreed that we needed to bring in Hank."

    Hank asked "Why didn't Philip and Magdalene come directly to me? I would have been more than happy to help them."

    "Because they don't know you all that well. They thought that it would look too odd for them to show up like that, and there was also the concern that Robert Reynolds might be watching you. He was able at one point to send creatures against Bonita and Wanda, but they were able to fight them off. It was a sign that this guy means business, though. But if I were to come, then it wouldn't seem that unusual. I'm still a bit afraid of something happening even with that." It felt a little better to admit to the fear.

    Jan waved her hand. "They don't need to worry about that from now on. I'll be the one to reach out to them. I can get a hold of any of the Avengers pretty quickly, and I like to keep in touch with people. Who's going to think anything of Janet Van Dyne going off and socializing? One thing I need to ask before I start planning: why weren't Magdalene and Philip taken in by all this? Do they have any idea?"

    "The theory that's been given is that since they aren't really thought of as Avengers by most people, that Robert just disregarded them. Simon was able to work with them for a while, but his memory of meeting them was taken away at some point, because when I talked to him he had no clue who they might be."

    Her face broke out into a big grin. "And that's how we're going to beat him."

    Cassie knew that she couldn't figure out how this might be true, and Miles and Hank looked just as confused as she was feeling. Dad asked "I'm still confused. How does that help us to beat this guy?"

    "Because if he left out Avengers from his plans, then we've got a source of allies to draw from. How many of us can most people name of the top of their head? Robert may not think about some of us, but I know everyone who has ever been a part of the team. If I were to reach out to some of our lesser-known members, then we can prepare for whatever he might be doing next."

    Hank didn't look to feel as good as Jan about it. "But we still have to find this guy. Just waiting around isn't going to accomplish much, unless he goes and does something pretty public."

    "Well, there's a chance that he might have a connection to one of the people I'm going to be speaking with. A slim one, but there's a chance nonetheless. And if I've got this guy pegged like I think I do, he's going to feel threatened if a large number of former Avengers start showing up. That's going to be a big sign that something's up. But this time, when Robert comes for us, we'll be ready."

    Cassie wondered "Won't it look suspicious if you start to talk to all those Avengers?"

    "Nah. I'm the one who's always making plans for things around here. If I need a cover story, I'll just say that I'm working on planning our July 4th gathering. I always get put in charge of the holidays, so who would question that?"

    "And what about having to go to Philip and Magdalene's place all the time? After a while if Hank's going there all the time he might have his mind affected the same way that Simon's was. When Kamala and I went and met him, anything to do with Wanda just made him shut down. It was like something had taken over his body."

    Jan looked over at Hank. He frowned. "Do you think that there would be less trouble if I were to have them bring Vision here at some point? After all, my lab's got everything that I need here, and having to carry it around is a bit of a hassle."

    She pondered the matter for a while. "I'm not sure that would work. Let's just say that Robert's going and checking on Vision, to make sure that no one is helping him. Then he would realize that someone had gotten in. And we would be the first people who he would think would want to do that. Knowing that he can affect memories as well as your actions, I can see him deciding to just take Vision's body so that he can permanently put a stop to things. With what we've seen him do, the chances of getting him back at that point would be minute. But Cassie's right to say that we can't go too often. Maybe if we both shrunk to go there, but what if you need extra space? I wish I knew how big their place was." She got up and began to pace around. "What we need is a neutral place. I think that I might have one that would fit our needs. And best of all, we could use it for all of the Avengers I get to gather without people noticing too much."

    Listening to Jan work through all of this made Cassie wonder how anyone could possibly question her leadership skills. She may have been a founding member of the team, and one of the members with the longest tenure, but there were still people who thought of the Wasp as being shallow and frivolous. There were a variety of reasons that people thought that way, but the biggest ones tended to be her career as a fashion designer and her having inherited a great deal of money. Jan also was the first to admit that she hadn't been the most serious person when she'd first begun her career as a hero, but over time she had warmed to the role and found that she could lead effectively if she trusted her instincts. Cassie had only known her as the person she was now, so imagining Jan any other way was nearly impossible.

    "So which one of your father's old properties do you think would work out best?"

    "Hmm. We're going to need some space, so I was thinking about that old complex that Dad wanted to turn into some condos at some point. I looked into maybe going through with the project after he died for a bit, but with my designing and the Avengers I never got around to it. I've been promising myself I'll do something with it for years, but now I think I've got it. We can go in some day and set a up a lab for you, Hank, and once Scott's back to normal he can stay there. Even better, we can start to get the stuff that the others might need to work with there."

    Miles asked "Who do you think you're going to call?"

    "I've got a few candidates. Bonita would have been one of them if she wasn't already involved, but I know that I can get Miguel. Walter's probably a good choice, and maybe Lupe if I can figure out how much people remember her. John's always hard to work with, but he'll do good, and depending on how things go I might talk with Elvin for a bit. Julia, too."

    Other than Lupe, who Cassie knew had been involved very recently, and Bonita, none of those names rang a bell with her. That was probably the point, as the whole idea was to get people that you wouldn't think of.

    "There's one other thing. When we were making plans, Wanda asked me to see if there was a way that you could get a message to her brother, just so that he would know she was okay. It's killing her to leave him in the dark." While Dad hadn't mentioned this earlier, it did make sense that Pietro would be one of the people Wanda would like to speak with. It had to be killing him to not know anything about where his sister was, what might be happening to her, or if she was okay.

    "Of course I will. He'll be the first person that I speak with."

   Now Miles wanted to know "When do you think that you're going to be able to start getting together the other Avengers?"

    "In a few days. I first want to go and get the place ready for someone, and wait for Hank to start working on Vision. Then I'll have to look and see who's doing what so I can get the best times to contact them. And I'm going to go visit Pietro tomorrow, before I do anything else."

    Hank added "I'll be heading out then to meet with Philip and Magdalene. I'd like to have an idea of what the damage is, and then I can tell what I'll need to begin fixing it."

    "Do you think there's going to be any issue if the new team learns that all these former members have been showing up in town?" Cassie doubted that it would even matter to them, but it didn't hurt to ask.

    "I'll just tell them that I'm planning a get-together, if I need to give anyone a story. But it shouldn't be a big deal. Worst case, they'll just start seeing if they can get some more help on difficult missions. I know Steve and Tony well enough to guess how they are going to react to the news. After all, Rhodey's been going with them for a while now, and he's been out of the business for quite a bit." She paused. "He might be someone we could get, but not until I've gone through better candidates. Since he's been doing work with the new Avengers, he's going to be on people's minds. Better to go for the ones who aren't active right now."

    Cassie could feel her phone beginning to vibrate. She pulled it out of her pocket, and looked over the message she had just received. "Tonight, 9pm." She looked up and said "I just got a message from Bonita. She says that they can get Dad back to normal tonight."

    Miles was concerned by the news. "Do you think that you'll be able to get out without getting in trouble? I can't see your mom allowing it."

    "It shouldn't make a difference if Maggie allows Cass to go out or not. As soon as we've stopped this Robert, I'm going to talk with Jen about getting the best family law attorney that I can and filing to get full custody of her again. I don't know if the reason I didn't do that the minute I heard she was coming back is because of him influencing my mind or not, but I promise that this time I'm going to do things right."

    "I'm not sure if I would be the best character witness, but if you need someone to talk about what kind of parent you are Jan and I can come and speak out. I know there are plenty of others who would be more than happy to do the same. I'd even bet that Tony would cover any of your legal cost if you were to just go and ask him."

    The worry that had been nagging Cassie since they arrived had completely vanished. Things were looking up for the first time since she'd been forced to leave Dad. They were going to make things right again, and then her life could begin to go back to normal.

    She looked at Miles, and just said "We're going to be all right now." And his smile told her that he agreed.

* * *

 

    Scott was glad that this was going to be the last time he was going to have to be stuck at this size. Wanda hadn't given him a guarantee that this was going to work out, but he needed to cling to the hope of resolution so that he could keep going. Not being able to help out with much of what was going on was driving him crazy.

    Cassie had done her best to make sure that no one noticed her arrival at the home of Anna, where they had been told to go. Scott wondered how it was that they had come to know her, and figured that he could ask once they got there. If no one wanted to tell him, then he was going to guess it was private.

    The door was opened by Bonita. “Glad to see both of you. Wanda and Holly are waiting upstairs.”

    Anna was nowhere to be found, maybe because she was nervous about hanging around. Cassie asked “Where upstairs?”

    “In Anna's room. She's in the kitchen now. I think she's still a little wary of being around new people. No offense intended, Scott.”

    “None taken. I'm just happy that I'm finally going to come back to normal.”

    “If it works out.” Bonita didn't sound like she was certain things were going to work out, although her overall tone wasn't too negative.

    Following her up the stairs, he could see a door with a picture on it, one that was clearly done in a child's hand. It looked like it was supposed to be some kind of castle, with a flying thing that Scott thought might be a dragon. It added a bit of a personal touch to the place, and they walked past that room to one with an open door.

    Wanda was arranging some stones on the carpet as they made their entrance, and an unfamiliar woman was sitting on the bed. “I'm glad to see that you and Cassie could both make it. This is Holly LaDonna, and she's here to help us out.”

    “I'm glad to be helping. I'm not much of a witch, and it was a bit of a surprise that Wanda wanted me. I hope I can help you out, Mr. Lang.”

    “I taught you enough that I trust your skills. And even if I didn't know you could handle this, I don't know of any other spell-casters who I could work with on a matter like this.”

    Holly's next words were spoken quickly. “There's...”

   “That would be too much trouble.” Based on what he knew, Scott was able to guess who Holly's alternate candidate was. Given that he'd been the one to speak the words condemning her, he could understand why Wanda might not want to involve him with this. But there was something else he couldn't define, a fleeting sorrow he could see in her eyes. It wasn't making sense to him, so Scott allowed it to slip from his mind.

    “Is there anything you're going to need me to do?”

    “Step into the area I've put the stones in. Don't worry about where exactly you wind up. We should be able to start in a few minutes.”

    He left Cassie and went to the location requested. Wanda went over to Holly, and she began to say some words he couldn't understand. Holly got up, and she started to walk around the area that Scott was standing in. There was a feeling of something in the air, although it wasn't something that he could define.

    Holly started move her arms, and she said “Unbind.” As she finished speaking, tendrils of light began to wrap themselves around his body.

    Scott could feel the sensation of something tugging on him, and then could see shadowy mists attacking the light. Somewhere in his head, he could hear a voice saying “No! This isn't how it was supposed to go! He shouldn't have returned until the division was complete.” The protestations faded away, and the mists were soon overcome by the light.

   Wanda said “Now, Scott! Grow!”

    He once more tried to make himself return to normal. And this time, he was successful. For the first time in weeks Scott could see the world from his usual vantage point.

    He stretched his limbs, delighting in finally being able to do what he had been denied for too long. "Thank God. I'm back."

    Cassie ran over to him and hugged him tightly. "I'm so glad to see you again. Where are you going to stay now?"

     "Tonight I'm going to stay with Hank and Jan, and hopefully tomorrow they'll be able to get me set in that building she was talking about earlier. I'm not going to go to the Avengers until I'm sure that it will be safe to do so."

    Holly said "That wasn't as hard as I was afraid it might be. But that mist stuff was scary. I got shivers just by looking at it. This Robert guy is bad news, if he was the one doing this."

    "Based on everything thus far, I agree that he's the one doing this. It would tie into the shadows going against us earlier. I hope that he's not paying attention to Scott, and assumes that he's out of commission for now."

    The rumbling of his stomach took him away from Wanda and Holly's conversation. "Would it be rude if I asked Anna for something to eat? Now that I'm back to normal size, the little bits of food I've been getting aren't nearly enough."

    "I think we might still have some stew leftover from dinner. Come with me, and I'll see what I can do." Bonita had been watching from the doorway during the process, and now she seemed to be looking for how she could help.

    He followed her, and could see Anna in the living room with a book. "Hello, Mrs. Altman," he said, hoping that he wasn't going to startle her.

    She looked up for a moment. "Hello," she said, with her eyes darting around. She didn't sound like she spent all that much time around strange people, and Scott knew that they were strangers to each other. "I'm glad you're back to normal." In spite of her nerves, Anna did sound happy for him.

    "So am I. You wouldn't mind if I got something from your kitchen, would you?"

   "That should be fine. Help yourself to some of our leftovers."

   He didn't bother to heat up the food, at this point not caring about a little thing like that. Cassie came into the kitchen with her phone in hand, mentioning “Miles wanted me to update him on how things went tonight. He's glad to hear that you're better now.”

    Scott didn't know Miles Morales all that well, and it was a surprise that Cassie seemed to have become so close to him. He resolved to try and meet him at some point in the future. “You should be getting home, Cass. It's going to be too risky if you go with me to Jan's, and your mother is going to expect you in before too long.”

    She nodded, and gave him one final hug. “I'll go talk to Jan about when I can see you again. See you, Dad.”

    He watched her head out, and asked Bonita “Do you think she'll be okay on her own?”

    “Yes, because if something were to happen it would be harder to explain than with us. And it would look even stranger if I were to go out and follow her. I will be going with you to Hank's, though. I think that he's going to be watched more closely than she will.”

    Having finished up enough stew to leave him satisfied, Scott was ready to go. “Let's not waste any time then.”

    As they headed for the door, he hoped that Robert's eyes weren't focused on him tonight.

* * *

 

    Stage two of his plans was proceeding very well. During today's encounter, the Sentry had been able to work with the emotions of both Captain America and Iron Man. The two men may have been close, but they had very different views on what was right to do at times. In the past, they had fought at times over their viewpoints clashing, but they'd always come to terms with each other in the end.

    But not today. After the battle was over, Steve had gone and spoken with Tony about some of the issues being raised, and the two of them had started to argue so loudly that it took both Hawkeye and Spider-Woman to get them to back off. He smiled as he thought about how it had been so easy. Steve might have been seen as a paragon of virtue, but he still felt all the same emotions that humans felt.

    Not only had it been a simple matter to turn the feelings of the team's leaders to what he needed, everyone else had been quick to choose sides in the dispute. Of course most of them had sided with Steve, but he was surprised at Spider-Man supporting Tony. The Sentry had been hoping to completely isolate him, to further spread the flames of tension among the group, but with Peter's support as well as the presence of War Machine that couldn't be done.

    He wished that he could take the tendrils of darkness that still lingered in Tony's mind and cause them to flare up again. He'd tried to do that in the past, although his purpose had been to drive him to drink again rather than to make his depression come on in full force. The barriers that were in Tony's mind were too strong for the Sentry to be able to push him in that direction without risking his mind being lost entirely. This had to be because most people could not have their brains rewired without disastrous consequences, as there was no way Tony Stark could be seen as having the mental strength to resist him. It was too bad, as it would have made things easier if he had been able to create genuine madness in the Scarlet Witch, although even if he had been able to do so he still would have had to influence her actions.

    At least he got the pleasure of listening to the others complain about Tony. That would help out so much once he'd gotten the big event out of the way. There would always be some who would agree with him, but a few pushes and soon he would be acting in such a way as to alienate those supporters. From there the Sentry would decide if he should live or die. Either way, he would be the natural choice for a leader once the dust had settled.

    Next time, he was going to try and see if it was possible to take out James Rhodes. There wasn't any way to make War Machine turn his back on his friend, and his presence kept throwing barriers to his plans. If he could only get the man to leave, then he could work better. The Sentry hadn't thought about him before he'd shown up for a visit, and then for whatever reason never left. Attempts to wipe his memory had failed, largely because Tony and Rhodey spoke every day. Accordingly, the things he could make them forget were always restored.

    The Rhodey problem was taking up so much of his time that it took a while for him to notice his danger sense going off. When he did realize, he began to try and see if the source could be pinpointed.

    And when he did find the reason, he knew that major action needed to take place. It was long time to go and take down Anna Altman. The Sentry wished he had gone and taken her out sooner, but there had been other things to occupy his time and she had been disregarded. But it was clear that she had a connection to the danger he was sensing.

    The biggest problem that he faced was how he was going to get her. Anna did not leave the house every day, and he couldn't just show up at her door without risking being spotted. He still wonder why it was that he couldn't look into the Altman home the way he could with every other place in the world. Was Anna doing something to keep him away? He doubted it, because how would she know who he was? Only Steve knew what his real name was, and so far he had been able to avoid sharing any other details.

    For now the best thing to do would be to make sure to have some way of alerting him to when Anna left her home. He'd been able to follow her on previous occasions, and guessed that there would be a good time somewhere down the road for him to strike.

    But it was going to have to be soon. If he was going to create a massive wedge between the various heroes of the city, he needed to have no distractions while doing so. Furthermore, there was the problem of his potential defeat. As long as the children were still around, the Sentry could be taken down. In order to get to them, he needed to make sure they had no protectors left.

    He almost opted to just send his shadows after her, but after his last attempt with them had ended in failure he no longer trusted them to get the job done. Even with the distance between them, he could be at her side in an instant. Then all it would take would be finding the right place to take her down.

    A tiny part of him wondered how it was that he was so eager to end a life now, when before his biggest regret had been harming the twins. But those thoughts were only fleeting, and now the Sentry smiled at how his plans were soon going to take flight.

 


	21. Gathering and Fleeing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hank works on Vision while Jan begins to gather her forces together.
> 
> Meanwhile, Anna is pursued by their foe, and changes must be made.

    Hank could now say that he felt better than he had in quite a while as he worked to restore Vision. While his role in his birth had been incidental, he still could look on the synthozoid as being part of his family. In a weird way he could say that he had been given a grandchild of sorts without having been a father, since Maria had never wanted children and Jan had only said that she wanted to wait before she committed to such a major decision. Things had gone badly before they had been able to come to a conclusion, so that was that.

    Jan had done a good job of getting him set up in the place they had chosen. The area he had chosen for his work was only occupied by him and Vision now, but there were three others who now resided full-time in the old building. Scott was the first one to show up, since he didn't want too many people to know that he was alive. He also thought that he would draw too much notice if he were to stick around, so he'd been set up by the time Philip and Magdalene came with the crate that was holding their teammate.

    The latter two were the others that were staying here. Hank had told them at first that it wasn't essential for everyone to be under the same roof, but Magdalene had offered a very good explanation as to why staying here was good for everyone. “It's better for Scott if he's not alone until we've tracked down Robert, and besides if we aren't seen coming and going constantly we can stay underground better. And as for you and Jan, you can just ask one of us to go get you anything you might need to help out.”

    “I'm pretty sure that I can take care of this with what I have. But you're right about it being good to have people staying with Scott.”

    With that settled, now he was working on Vision and Jan was going to get the other Avengers. Her first stop was going to be Pietro, because she knew how much he must be worrying about his sister. Neither one of them had been able to speak to Wanda as of yet, but Jan had asked Bonita when they met up “Do you think that Wanda's going to want to send some kind of message to her brother?”

    “I'm certain she will. She was touched by your note, just to let you know.” After Cassie and Miles had left their home Jan had set out to write a letter of apology to her friend, explaining what had happened on that day by the pool. She'd said that she would understand if Wanda had no desire to ever speak with her again, but Jan had gotten back via the coffee shop where all correspondence was to be left a letter that was only to be opened after the whole mess was through. Bonita's word seemed to point towards the contents being good, although this could not be confirmed until the letter was read.

    Wanda had wanted to give something to Pietro, and the message was currently on Jan's person. Hank could hear the sound of someone coming in, and he waited to see who that was. As he'd thought, Jan's voice asked “How's it going?”

    “Fairly good. Jen sure did a number on him. Right now I would say that he's gone from being a corpse to a person who's in a coma. I'm hoping to be able to have some type of communication with him soon. What are your plans for now?”

    “Well, first of all I'm going to see Pietro and tell him what I can. I'm going to try and convince him that it's a bad idea to go and find Wanda due to the threat of one Robert Reynolds. I think that I'll be able to get him to listen to reason. And Wanda's note is going to probably say the same thing, which will get through to him if nothing else does.”

    “Do you have any idea of when you're going to get in touch with the others?”

    “Tonight I'm starting with Miguel for two reasons. One's the time difference, so it won't be too late when I have the time to make the calls. Second, he's obscure enough that if he can come out no one's going to notice. Then we'll have a little lightning on our side.”

    “I haven't seen Miguel since the whole Kang thing. It will be nice to catch up with him.” Hank was in no way the social butterfly Jan was, but when it came to the Avengers he very much looked forward to being around them. “Are you headed out now?”

    “Yup. Just going to get down to a better size, and head off.” Both her and Hank were arriving and departing in their smaller states, so they wouldn't be noticed going to and from the building so much. The first day had been the only one when they'd stayed normal, and that was due to it not being unusual for Jan to want to check out some of her property.

    “Good luck. I'll see you tonight.” Jan responded with a quick peck on the cheek, and then she was gone.

    Hank looked over what he had done. By now the various fragments had been put into some semblance of an actual body, and Vision's head was almost entirely normal. He was hoping this time around there wouldn't be any issues with his emotions. It still confused him as to why that had happened in the first place. Since all of the workings of Vision's mind were just like the brain of a human, if he had been put back together without any damage remaining there should have been no major impact. That wasn't to say that there wouldn't be any traumas resulting from his being taken, but how he had changed afterwards was a mystery. And that didn't even take into account how Simon had acted. His sudden refusal to help the man he called brother was an even more bizarre outcome to all that. Hank thought that he might have had a bit of a crush on Wanda, but he'd never indicated that he held such a torch for her at any point he could think of.

    Shaking his head, he went back to the task at hand. And within a few minutes Vision's eyes began to show the first signs of life they had displayed in weeks. Hank took a step back, and asked “Vision, can you hear me?”

    He took a few moments before responding, trying to take measure of his surroundings. When he did speak, there was only one panicked word that came out of his mouth. “Wanda!”

* * *

 

    Like a lot of Avengers, Jan wasn't sure that she could call herself particularly close to Pietro Maximoff. His personality was known for being quite abrasive, and out of everyone who had been a member of the team she could only say that two had ever been very close to him: Wanda and Crystal. Later on she thought Vision might have gotten closer to him, but the events that had happened around that time made that relationship slam shut.

   Thinking about Crystal made Jan feel sad. She had seen her and Pietro together, and could tell that they had loved each other very much at one point. But a lack of communication combined with the silent disapproval of her people had led to the end. There were times when it was better to end your relationship with someone – after Hank had suffered his breakdown and lashed out at her Jan had known she could no longer stay. It had only been after working with a counselor and seeing him take charge of his mental health that things had been able to get back to a more normal path.

    She had told the first person she had met that she had an important message to give Pietro, and the response had been a simple "Follow me." Jan went forward, hoping that she wasn't just going to be turned away or shouted at.

    What she saw when she first got to the room Pietro was in was not what she thought she would see. He was sitting on the ground, playing a game of checkers with a young girl. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize that Luna was visiting right now. I can come back any time you'd like."

    Luna gave a brief scowl, and said "I'm not visiting. I'm living here now."

    "Why is that?" While based on what Jan knew Pietro wasn't always happy with the limited time he got to spend with his daughter, he'd never made an effort to change things. And Crystal was not the type of person who would just go and hand over her child to someone else, unless there was some reason. Could there be trouble at home that made having Luna around no longer safe?

    There was a very clear anger in her voice as she replied "Because some people care more about getting married than they do about their daughters."

    Pietro did not look happy to be hearing that. "Luna, you know that isn't what's happening with Mom. We've both explained that to you."

    She crossed her arms over her chest, and ran her hand over the checkerboard, scattering pieces. "If she really wanted me to stay, then she would have told him no. He's stupid anyway. I don't know what she sees in him."

    That seemed to cross a line, as his next words were "Luna, go to your room.  _Now._ I will not allow you to speak like that about your mother. You know better than that."

    Married? Crystal was getting married? Jan now wondered who it was she was going to marry. It couldn't be anything good, because telling your fiancee that she needed to send her child away before the wedding wasn't a good sign. She waited until Luna had left the room, stomping her feet all the way before asking “Crystal's getting married again? Why does Luna have to come here?”

    He placed his hand on his forehead, and looked exhausted. “Her sister has made arrangements for her to marry Ronan the Accuser. He has said that he does not wish for her inferior spawn to be a part of his new life.”

    The cruelty of the words was shocking. “But why is she doing this? I know Crystal, and I can't see her as giving in that easily to a man. Why hasn't she just gone and told him the whole thing's off?” There was also a deeper concern in her inquiries, because the request was sending off warning signs a mile wide. Demanding your partner give up caring for their child showed a disturbing desire for control. And someone who wanted that kind of control wasn't likely to stop at one request.

    Pietro sighed. The pain in his voice was quite clear as he said “Crystal has been told that it is crucial to her people to go forward with the marriage. She says she must do what is asked of her. When Luna first came to me... she could barely say good-bye, or when she might be able to see her again. I asked her when she gave me the news if it would be possible to say it was too much, but she said that if she did not marry Ronan then they would all be at risk from the threats to the city.” He looked away. “It's the main reason I haven't been looking for my sister. I need to be there for Luna.”

    Jan could guess that when she started to make calls to other Avengers Crystal would not be one she could reach. “How has Luna been taking all this?”

    “She's still angry with her mother. I understand her feelings, but she knows that Crystal loves her and does not want to be parted from her. Luna's been saying she's glad that she doesn't show any signs of being an Inhuman, because they don't care about families. I wish that I could say something different, but even Medusa told Crystal it would be for the best if she were to send Luna away for a while, until they could smooth things out with Ronan. If I know him the way I think I do, that is not going to happen. I keep thinking about the way she sounded when she let me know about what was going to happen with Luna. It was breaking her heart, and mine was breaking too.”

    All Jan could think to say was “I'm so sorry. This must be so hard on all of you. Has Crystal tried to speak to Luna since then?”

    “Yes, but she won't listen. She's said she never wants to speak to her mother again, and it doesn't seem to matter what I say. Crystal's a good woman, and a wonderful mother. There's no reason for her...” But the remainder of his thoughts were cut off. He shifted the subject. “Why is it you've come to see me today?”

    “I've got news regarding Wanda,” she said. “I can't tell you where she is right now, because I don't know the answer. But I can tell you she's safe, and that she is not the one who is responsible for what happened at the mansion. Does the name Robert Reynolds ring a bell to you, by any chance?”

    Pietro's jaw had dropped as Jan had told him what she had come for. “I have never heard that name in my life. Is he the one? Why did he frame my sister?”

    “He's the guy who's done this, based on what we know so far. Why he went after Wanda still isn't clear, but we have found out a few things.”

    “What have you learned? And is anyone else working with you besides Hank?”

    “From what I've seen this Robert can influence people's memories, because he managed to make most of us forget all the times Wanda knew about her children. Do you recall what happened last Christmas, when Vision gave her that photo album? I didn't remember it until Philip and Magdalene brought it up to me, and I was shocked that such an important detail had seemingly slipped my mind until now.”

    “Philip and Magdalene? Who are they?”

    “Right, you probably wouldn't remember them. Magdalene and the Swordsman? From another world? They had questions about what had happened, and then they got a message telling them to go to the mansion to check things out. When they did, that was when they found the album among other things Wanda had hidden there. From that point onward they knew that things couldn't have gone the way they were supposed to have gone.”

    Pietro looked to be taking in all of the information. “So then they went to speak with you.”

    She shook her head. “No, not then. The first person they had any contact with was Simon, because he had been talking to his mother about everything, and she told him that Wanda and her had met up a little while ago and talked about her children. She suggested that he go to the mansion to check things out, and from there he ran into Magdalene and Philip. They decided from there that they were going to look into what was going on and see if they could find out the truth.”

    “Did Simon go to you, then? Why didn't the others go to the Avengers once they knew that Wanda was being framed?”

    “Simon hasn't spoken to me at all. Based on what I've heard, he doesn't remember any of this. When they first made plans, he gave Philip and Magdalene his phone number so they could get in touch with him. After he'd gone and spoken with some people who knew Wanda, he stopped responding to their calls. And that was when things got interesting. It turns out that Scott's alive, and he went to Cassie after he realized that for whatever reason he couldn't grow again.”

    “That would explain why we never found anything of him. So how did Cassie figure into this?”

    “She went with a friend to meet with Simon after they heard he was in town, because Scott also could remember things that no one else could. During their talk he got a call from Philip, and Cassie got his number. From there they met up, and decided on what they needed to do, which was to get back Vision.”

    While he was normally in motion, Pietro had been quite still for the entire time Jan had been speaking. When he did speak, it was to say “Scott wasn't the only one. Luna could remember her cousins from the start. I told her that her aunt had gotten upset because you had brought up the twins, and Wanda didn't remember them. She told me that was silly, because Aunt Wanda had told her about Billy and Tommy before. 'She said it makes her sad to think about them, but she's glad she has me as a niece.' I still don't know how it was that she knew that, but as soon as Luna mentioned it I could recall times when Wanda brought up her family. Before, if I tried to think about it, it was like my head was in some kind of fog.”

    It was more evidence for how their minds had been affected. “That was what it was like for me when I tried to think about what I said to Wanda at the pool. I know that this would sound crazy under any other circumstances, but I swear I didn't actually intend to say what I did. It just came out of my mouth like I couldn't stop it. I wish that I'd gone and said I was sorry, because that might have stayed off some of what's been happening to us. But Wanda kept avoiding me, and I guess that part of me hoped that she'd just brush it off.” Jan then had to ask “Did you really believe that Wanda was guilty of all this?”

    He looked down. “I couldn't let myself believe it was true, but I couldn't see any reason to deny it. The facts seemed to be clear, and I saw no reason for Doctor Strange to say what he did otherwise. Although I'm having a hard time remembering what it was he actually said.”

    “Now that I think about it, I can't remember it either. But what you're saying confirms what we were thinking: that the reason Philip and Magdalene weren't convinced of Wanda's guilt was because our culprit didn't think about them. So that's what we're going to work with. I'm planning on getting together all of the more obscure Avengers to see if we can track down this Robert and stop him.”

    “You mentioned Vision earlier. What's going to happen with him?”

    In spite of the tension that had existed between them in the past, Pietro seemed to be concerned about his welfare. Perhaps he had come to accept how important the synthozoid was to his sister's life by now. “Hank's working on getting him back. That's another one of those oddities. No one seemed to really care that Vision was incapacitated. It feels a bit like having a family member die, and everyone just saying 'Oh, too bad,' and then not having a memorial or funeral or anything. Wouldn't you think that was a tad unusual?”

    “Yes, but that doesn't matter now. How is Hank doing with him? Is he going to be okay?”

    “So far so good. Hank's thinking that it's going to be a day or so before he can speak to us again. Once he can, we're going to see what he knows. Vision should be able to remember Wanda and her children, if what happened to us happened after the attack began. Otherwise, this Robert's been working on us for longer than I'd like.”

    “I'm thinking that he has been, judging by what you said about the incident by the pool. Why else would you have said something that you both didn't intend to say and was so out of character for you?” Pietro changed the subject, and asked “Do you have any idea which Avengers you're going to contact?”

    “Besides Philip and Magdalene, I know there's one other person I don't need to get. Wanda, after running off, went to go meet with Bonita and they've been working together ever since. The first person I thought of was Miguel, because not only is he not someone you might think of when you think of the Avengers, but he also is on the other side of the country. I don't think that it's unreasonable to assume our Robert Reynolds is somewhere more local, given how he struck out. And I have one thing to give you. Wanda wanted me to give you this note. I don't think that you're going to be able to see her for a while, and she's been desperate to get something to you.” She handed over the note.

    Pietro didn't move to read it. “Would it be possible for me to work with you?”

    “We'll need to see how things turn out. I'm trying to keep things quiet, and getting you involved too soon will make everything all the more risky.”

    “Would it be at least possible for me to get a message to her?”

    Jan hated to have to say this. “I don't know. The best I might be able to do is send any communication through Bonita when I see her.”

    While he clearly wasn't happy with how much he could do, Pietro didn't say anything in response. After a few more moments of silence, he said “I need to go and speak with Luna now. She has to understand that speaking that way about her mother is not acceptable.”

    “I understand.” She added “If you get a chance to speak with Crystal, let her know I'm thinking of her.”

    “I will. Thank you, Jan.”

* * *

 

    Anna was glad to be heading out to enjoy some coffee. Rebecca had first started to draw her out of her shell by introducing her to the coffee shop she liked to patronize, pointing out how Anna seemed to enjoy her coffee and would be glad to try something new. They hadn't had coffee at home, and the first time she had tried it she had realized there were wonders on Earth that she had never thought possible.

    It was still hard to think about her home. By now Anna had mostly resigned herself to never being able to return, unless at some point Anelle was able to make contact with her. The feeling of homesickness was still strong within her, and now that Wanda and Bonita were helping out with some of the tasks at home she had more time to think about things. One of the biggest thoughts she was dealing with was what she should tell Teddy about his family. He knew that his father was dead, but had no idea that Anna was not the woman who had given birth to him. A part of her wished to keep that knowledge from him, to never have Teddy see himself as anything other than a normal human boy. But there was the larger part of her that knew keeping that information was only going to cause more problems in the long run.

    She shook her head and entered the shop, not wanting to linger on those issues for now.

    “Hi, Anna! Haven't seen you for a while. Still coming in alone?”

    Kasher's voice was soothing and familiar. “For now. I've just been so busy, I haven't had time to stop in lately.”

    “Well, it's always good to see you. Anything special today?”

    “Just the usual, please.” Anna debated over whether or not she should just get something to go, or if she should take the time to sit down with her order. In the end she decided to take a little time to relax, something that was rare for her.

    As Kasher went about fixing her drink, Anna could feel a certain something in the air. She tried to ignore it, and once he came with her order and said “Here you go,” she thought that everything was alright. Looking for a spot to sit down, she found a table near the window where she could sit.

    Sipping her drink, she could sense that terrible feeling of being watched that had come over her before. During the other times, she had at least been able to dismiss it as perhaps just being her own imagination running wild. Now that she knew about Robert Reynolds, and the threat he posed, she strongly doubted that was the case. Glancing around, she couldn't see anyone who was looking in her direction. That wasn't enough to ease her fears, and Anna grabbed her coffee and began to make her way to the exit. She tried to act as if she was planning on leaving, and there was no hurry for her to be anywhere.

    Standing on the sidewalk, she planned on taking a less direct route back home. For a moment she pondered ducking away to change her appearance. That was rejected as being far too likely to draw suspicion and instead Anna just began to make her way home.

    It wasn't too long before her fears were confirmed. As she headed down a side road, a voice could be heard calling her. “Anna Altman.”

_Walk faster,_ she said to herself.  _Pretend you didn't hear anything._ She went a tiny bit faster, trying to act like nothing was wrong. Maybe she would run into someone. That might help make her safe...

    "I know you can hear me, Anna. Did you think that you could get away from me for good?"

    "I've done nothing to you," she said without turning around. Somewhere to hide, that was what she needed now. Her faith in her ability to fight back was non-existent given how he had taken down the Avengers with so little effort.

    "Not on purpose, I would say. But if you hadn't been there then my plans wouldn't be able to be stopped. Do you understand how important this is? How much I could do if I obtain my new position? One thing will lead to my downfall, and I thought I had put a stop to that years ago. You never should have gone outside. Then you would have a chance to live. I do plan on sparing the child you care for, if that makes you feel any better."

    It most certainly did not. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see a man with blond hair. By now no longer caring if anyone saw her, Anna pulled herself over to a building nearby and changed herself so that she would blend in. Moving as slowly and carefully as she could, she made her way down an alleyway. With a quick glance to see if he was there, she shifted into a garbage can. That wouldn't look out of place.  _Please,_ she thought.  _Please don't find where I am._

    "Now where have you gone? I know all about you can do. Ever wonder if it might have been better for you if you just told his mother you couldn't leave your home? You wouldn't be hiding from the scary man who's going after you, would you?"

    Having the question asked to her in such a manner made her think about what might have happened if she had gone and told Anelle she couldn't leave her home. But Anna realized that there was no way that she could have said no. Her family had all perished when their homeworld was destroyed, and she had never been able to find someone she wanted to marry, as well as not having any close friends. Leaving a child to certain doom because of who his father happened to be was not an idea she could stomach. It had been so long since she had even thought of herself as her Skrull name, instead of Anna. Like it or not, she was home and would be staying here.

    The thought granted a certain serenity to her. As she had explained to Wanda and Bonita, Anna had long ago given up on the idea of ever hearing from Anelle again. Without that clearance, Teddy and her were never going to go back. Now she knew that she needed to find a way to start living a real life instead of living off what someone else could give. Time to stop being afraid of discovery and to face the world head on. If this was where her life was going to be, then she needed to make the best of it.

    Robert's voice still echoed around her, his mocking tone growing more harsh. "Don't you want to see the world become a better place? I know I can do it, because I've done so much already. To think at first I was happy with changing football games!" He began to laugh at his past deeds.

    If Anna had been able to speak, she would have cried out "Look at what you've already done! You framed an innocent woman, cause the Avengers to think one of their number was dead, and now you're going after me for reasons I can't explain. Is this really what you want to become?"

    There was a long period of silence. "Damn it. I know you can't have gone too far. What's the point of running and hiding? Isn't it better to just give in and accept your fate? Until I have managed to eliminate the threat, I will not stop searching for you. I don't know why I cannot see your home when I look out on the world, but be warned that every time you leave I will be there. You have done enough harm to me."

_The threat._ She was almost certain that he was talking about Billy and Tommy. What else could he mean by saying she would have been better off not going outside? And how in the world could two young children be a threat to him? Did it have something to do with their parents? While that made the most sense, it didn't explain how come Wanda had never heard of him before.

    "You know that I can wait for a very long time. Can you stay in hiding for days? Your family will suffer in your absence. Isn't it easier to just give up now? I promise that I will be quick." Robert didn't sound as angry as he had before. His tone was more matter-of-fact, with little overt emotion.

    How long the standoff would go on wasn't clear. Anna couldn't understand why if Robert could do so much he wouldn't just use those abilities to track her down, unless for some reason he didn't really want to find her. She hoped that someone else would come by and cause him to leave, or just give up his pursuit.

    The sound of a phone ringing nearly caused her to revert back. She hadn't brought her own phone so the one ringing had to belong to Robert. He let it ring a few times before answering. "Hello? Where? Of course it's no trouble. I'll be right there." There was a period of silence. "How about that. I'll be back for you, I swear it. There's nowhere you can go to be safe, and you can't stay inside forever." There was a flash, and he was gone.

    It was almost an hour before Anna felt safe enough to return to normal, or at least what normal was for her. The fear of Robert coming back for her was still strong enough to leave her shaking as she made her way back to the main road.

    As fast as she could, she hurried home. Wanda and Bonita were bound to be worried about her by now. Anna dreaded having to tell them about her encounter. It felt like a given that they were going to feel responsible for having brought the man into her life. And what were they going to do next? With what had occurred with the Avengers, they weren't an option for her friends or perhaps even for her. Would they even believe the story she told about finding two children in her yard one day?

    Taking several breaths to calm herself, Anna opened her door.

* * *

 

    Bonita was pacing around, trying not to let the children notice how nervous she was feeling. Anna had gone out earlier in the day to get some coffee since it had been some time since she had been able to go out for any length of time. "Sometimes I can get Rebecca to come and watch the boys, but I hate having to impose on her like that."

    When she had said that, Wanda replied with "Is there anywhere in particular you'd like to go?"

    "It's nothing major, but I used to go down to the coffee shop a few times a week to have a drink. Sometimes I'd bring everyone with me, and we'd have some cake pops or a muffin together. If you don't mind, I was thinking about going tomorrow."

    Anna had been told that there would be no problems with her heading out, and she had done so a while after breakfast. She said that she was certainly going to be back in time for lunch, but it was well past that time and she had still not returned.

    Wanda walked up to where she was standing and asked "What do you think we should do?"

    "Well, we can't go to the police without too many questions coming up. For now we should wait and see. But if Anna's not back by dinnertime, I think the best option would be to go to the safehouse Jan's found for us. There should be other Avengers besides Philip, Magdalene, and Scott by now. Hopefully they'll understand if we have to go down that path."

    The front door could be heard opening, and Teddy said "Mommy's back!"

    They both headed for the door, and were greeted by the sight of a shaky-looking Anna. While her appearance was essentially the same as it had been before she left, her eyes spoke of things having gone horribly wrong.

    "Anna, what happened?" Bonita asked her, already thinking she knew the answer.

    Teddy had come over and was now wrapping himself around his mother's waist. "Where were you?"

    "I was getting a coffee from Kasher, and it took a little longer than I planned. I'm sorry to keep you worrying, Ted." She kept her eyes on Bonita, and mouthed "We need to talk." Turning her focus to Teddy, she asked "So what have you been doing today?"

    "I'm playing Trouble with Billy and Tommy now. And I was coloring before."

    "Well, why don't you go back to your game so I can talk with Ms. Maximoff and Ms. Juarez, okay?"

    Not questioning why his mother would ask him such a thing, Teddy bounded off.

    Now that her child was out of earshot, Anna made her way to one of the chairs in the living room. She was shaking the entire time. Looking at both Wanda and herself, she said "I was nearly attacked by Robert Reynolds while I was out."

    Wanda took a deep breath. "What did he do?"

    "He was following me when I got my coffee. I tried to see if I could get back, but I wasn't able to make it. I ended up having to disguise myself as a trash can in some alley so he wouldn't get to me. His words made it quite clear that he had no plans of letting me live through our encounter." Her voice had only a faint tremor to it, but the fear was clear to see.

    One thing was baffling Bonita. "I've seen some of what this man is capable of doing. I'm sure he could have figured out where you had gone even without seeing you do so. Then why didn't he do that?"

    A shrug. "Maybe because I wasn't the one he really wanted. Judging by the other things he said it was Billy and Tommy who were the ones he wanted most."

    Contemplating what she was hearing, Wanda said "That might at least explain why he decided to try and frame me for what he was doing, as well as why it was supposed to be about my children. That still doesn't explain why he thinks they're a threat to him. One thing is clear, though: you can't stay here any longer."

    Anna's eyes opened wider. "But he said he couldn't see me when I was here. That should mean I'll have no problems if I don't go anywhere."

    "You can't stay like that for very long. There's no way for you to stay inside every day without starting to go crazy. And how well do you think the kids are going to take not going anywhere? I think I know where you need to go – where you can get the help you need."

    Even before Anna asked "Where?" Bonita had a good idea of where that place was going to be.

    Wanda stated "The Avengers Tower. I know that Steve and Tony are going to help you as soon as they learn about you and Teddy. And they most likely will understand why you couldn't go to anyone when Billy and Tommy wound up in your care."

    She had to add "I understand that this is a huge step for you, but if Robert is following you then we can't risk being here any longer as well. There's a place that one of our number has gotten for us, and it's time for us to head there. There should be at least three others, and hopefully there will be more very soon. And making yourself more public might help protect you."

    Anna nodded. "So should we start getting ready now?"

    Bonita looked over at Wanda. She shook her head, and that led Bonita to say "Not yet. I think we should wait a while before sending you out. What made Robert leave you alone, or do you not know that?"

    She blinked a few times, and her face crinkled up. "He got a phone call from someone telling him to come. Nothing that he said told me who might have been calling him or why it was so important. He did promise he would be back, and I was so frightened of what he might do that it took me even longer to get back than it normally would have. I'm sorry for making you worry."

    "That's not important now. Let's talk about how you're going to get there. Do you drive?"

    Anna laughed a little. "Without any identification? Of course not."

    "Do you have any extra money lying around? We could call a cab for you." Wanda asked.

    "Some. How much are you going to think I'll need? I don't like to spend all that much."

    "Just take what you have, and if that's not enough ask the cabbie to wait until you can get Tony down there. I know he'll take care of any extra."

    She seemed to be thinking of what else might be helpful. "When would be the best time to leave?"

    "After dark. Hopefully Robert is going to being doing something else then."

    She got up. “What should I tell the children?”

    Wanda also got up and walked over to Anna's side. “Just that there's trouble and they need to go somewhere safe. Let me help you get some things together.”

    Knowing that she was also going to have to be leaving, Bonita went to gather her own things. She hoped that their reunion with other Avengers went well and that there wasn't some trap awaiting them there. But she knew the time for confrontation with Robert was getting closer, and they needed all the allies they could get.

 


	22. Too Long a Parting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wanda and Bonita join their allies for good. Vision is finally able to learn the truth of his family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...And after 22 chapters my OTP is finally reunited.
> 
> If anyone is curious as to why Miguel is called "El Dragon," google the Superdictionary to see the answer.

    The first thought Vision had when he heard Hank's voice was  _I must warn Wanda._ The words of the one who had come to torment him in the darkness had lingered in his every moment since they had been spoken. A part of him still hoped that the story he had been told was false. The Avengers knew Wanda so well. How could they just decide she had lost her mind without looking to see what had happened? Given how the man had acted, it would not come as a surprise if he had just wanted to turn the screws tighter and cause more pain.

    He could feel Hank's hand on his chest, saying “Vision, calm down! Wanda's safe! She's alright!”

    Relief flooded through him. The story had to have been a lie. If the team had truly blamed her for what had happened, there would be no way you could say she was safe. “Where is she? I must speak with her?”

    Hank did not speak for too long. Dread began to grow in him again. “I don't exactly know where she is right now. If I did, then there would be too much risk. There's someone after her, and we don't know where he is now. And there's the danger of what might happen if the wrong person finds her.”

    “Then is it true? Did the team blame her for everything that happened? How could they do that? Wanda would never hurt me, even if her mind was completely lost to her.” Vision knew that the person who was after her had to be the same as the one who he had seen. It was too much of a coincidence to have happened otherwise.

    Hank sounded tired. “We all thought that Wanda had lost her mind because Jan reminded her of her children. But someone was messing with our memories. Once Jan and I knew that it wasn't true, we could recall last Christmas as well as other times when she mentioned the boys. Still, we never would have realized what happened if it hadn't been for Philip and Magdalene.”

    Those were not the names he would have expected to hear. Magdalene and the Swordsman had always been on the fringe of membership in the Avengers, and he couldn't think of why they would have gotten involved here. “What did they do?”

    “Went to the mansion, and found your Christmas gift. Then they knew Wanda had known about Billy and Tommy all along. They started to talk to people, and found out Scott was alive. We all thought he had been killed, you see,” Hank said as an explanation. “And somewhere along the way they encountered Bonita and learned that Wanda had gone to her when she escaped from where Steve and Tony were holding her. And Cassie and some of her friends went and got you, came to see me, and now we're here.”

    Vision still wanted to get up and run to Wanda as soon as he could. There were still some questions that he needed to be answered before he could do so, however. “Why did everyone think it was her?”

    “Because Doctor Strange showed up and said something about Wanda being guilty. None of us can remember what it was that he said, other than Wanda having done everything. I never really allowed myself to think about it very much, and Jan was hurt so she didn't hear anything. Bonita says that she thought that this has to be because of Robert Reynolds. You wouldn't have heard of that name before, have you?”

    “No. Is he the one? I need to find him. He's going to go after Wanda. He said she was just there, and he needed a target. He knew something about what happened to Tommy and Billy. I must stop him.” He tried to rise to his feet, but was stopped by Hank's hand pressing firmly down on him.

   “Hold it. I would be a terrible doctor if I let you go out like this. I still need to run some tests and put a few pieces back together. Until then, I need you here. You were saying that he told you those things? Have you actually seen our enemy?”

    “I cannot be certain it was him, but I doubt there would be anyone else who would have come. I was in the darkness, and he came to ask why I was remembering the past. Later he came to taunt me about what he was going to do to Wanda, and about the hurtful words I said to her in the past. I can clearly describe the man I saw, although he was not familiar to me.” Vision would never forget that face. He also left out the child who he had seen, or the message from Marya. Those felt too personal to share.

    Hank looked somewhat relieved. “Hopefully that can help us to find him. So far, no one knows who this Robert is or why he might bear a grudge against the Avengers. Both Wanda and Bonita have been looking through any records they can find, but so far nothing's been found.”

    Since he hadn't really had any idea of who the man he had seen was, Vision couldn't offer much more help than that. At least he knew that Wanda had found some people to help her. “Has anything else happened since that day?”

    “Bonita says at one point after Wanda came to stay with her they were attacked by these shadow things. Like with you, they didn't have any evidence that Robert was the one who sent them but it's hard to think of who else might have done this.”

    “If no one knows who this Robert might be, then how did anyone get his name? I highly doubt he would have been foolish enough to use it given how he has covered his tracks thus far.”

    Hank answered “Wanda did something that gave her the name. I still don't exactly know what brought her and Bonita back out here. I would have thought they would stay in New Mexico, if only because none of us would look for her there.” He paused and shook his head. “Of course, no one appeared to be looking for Wanda anyway. We were all in agreement that she was dangerous and something needed to be done about her, but when she got away everyone pretty much just shrugged their shoulders.”

    He could only shake his head. "I still can't understand why people wouldn't have tried to stand up for Wanda. Pietro should have done so, at the very least."

    Hank sagged as he listened to Vision's words. "He did try to say that we couldn't just lock her away, and that we should talk to her about what happened. But when we did, it seemed like she was in a fog of sorts. Wanda never denied that she did anything, but when I look back on what she did say nothing stands out as being what you would expect to see from someone who was having such serious mental health issues. I know that when things were really bad for me I didn't make much sense when I was talking about things. Wanda seemed more numb than angry, and you would think she would be pretty angry if she were lashing out like she was supposed to."

    "Hank?" A woman's voice echoed through the room. "Your phone's going off. I think Jan might be calling you."

    "One second, Magdalene. I just want to finish up with Vision here." He asked "Can you raise up your arm?"

    It wasn't exactly an effortless task, but Vision was able to oblige him.

    "Great. Hopefully you'll be up and about before too long. I'll be right back."

    As Hank left, he could see Magdalene walking into the room. She was one of several Avengers he knew little about save that she came from another world. He still felt grateful to her for having been one of the first to realize something was wrong. "I would like to thank you for what you and Philip have done for us. It's not pleasant to think about what might have happened to Wanda otherwise."

    She waved her hand. "Honestly, we didn't do very much. Simon was the one who found people to talk to, Cassie and her friends got you back, and Bonita was the one who took her in. All Philip and I really did was talk for a while and have someone send us to the mansion."

    "Do you know who sent you?"

    "Not really. The one time I spoke with Wanda she said she thought it must be Agatha. Having never seen or spoken to the woman I can't say for certain that's correct." Magdalene paused and looked straight into his eyes. "How are you doing?"

    Vision was unsure of how he could answer the question. Physically he was still mending, but that was going to be fixed before too much time had passed. His mind was also intact but he knew that until he could speak with Wanda his fears would not go away. "I must see Wanda as soon as I can. It hurts so much to know what she has been going through. I want to take her and never let her go."

    There was a nod, and an answer filled with understanding. "When I first came here I never wanted to be too far away from Philip. We always relied on each other more than anyone else on the team, but once everything we knew was gone it was just easier to stay together. I think that was what kept us from realizing we'd found a place to stay right away. Neither one of us was looking at what we had here."

    Her words of loss made his heart ache. "There was a point after I lost my sons when I could feel the traces of emotion building within me again. And I shut them down. Even on an intellectual level, I knew that to feel again would make it impossible to go on everyday. I had pushed away my wife, and my brother had acted in such a way I no longer felt close to him. My entire family had been taken from me in such a short time, and if I had felt the loss I would have lost my mind in the same way Wanda did." Vision began to take in his surroundings. The room contained a variety of things that Hank had used in his work, but it did not look to have any real furnishings. "Where are we?"

    "A building that Jan owns. Scott's also staying here, not letting anyone find out he's alive. Hopefully Jan's going to be able to get more Avengers to join us soon."

    Hank entered the room again. "Good news. Jan's gotten Wanda's letter to Pietro, and she tells me that she was able to speak with Miguel. He should be here in a day or two. I updated her on how you were doing, Vision. I think that she'll be here at some point tonight. If it's possible, we're going to see if Bonita can drop by. So if she does, you can give a message to Wanda. What would you like to tell her?"

    There was only one thing he needed to say. "That I love her."

    Hank blinked a few times, looking to be holding back tears. "I'll be sure to get that out, then."

    It wasn't perfect, but Vision hoped that once he was well he could go and find the woman he loved. Soon...

* * *

 

    The final night at the Altman home went by in a blur of confusion. Anna had gathered up a few outfits for the boys as well as herself, and asked "Should I bring anything else?"

    Wanda could only think of one item. "Billy and Tommy's blanket. That should dispel any ideas about whether or not you've been influenced by me."

    "But I shouldn't say anything about you or Bonita now. Just who I really am and who Teddy is."

    "If you think they might listen it might be helpful to tell a little something. I'm not counting on that, though."

    Dinner was a quick affair consisting of some sandwiches. Anna was the one to break the news to everyone. "Boys, I need to tell you something. After we're done eating, we have to leave here for now. Someone is trying to hurt us, and we need to go to where we will be safe."

    Teddy asked her "Where are we going?"

    "We're going to New York, to where the Avengers are. They knew Daddy when he was alive, and I know they will help us out now."

    Tommy looked at Wanda and asked "Are you coming with us, Mommy?" The fact he had asked the question in the first place pointed towards him already knowing the answer.

    After having promised she would not leave them again it hurt to have to tell this to her sons. "No, I won't be. I have to do some work with Aunt Bonita so I can find the person who wants to hurt us. He's looking for me, too. So I need to find him before he can hurt anyone else."

    Both him and Billy looked so upset Wanda wished she could tell them otherwise. But just going and appearing at Stark Tower was almost certainly going to go badly. Billy said "Please don't go, Mommy! You promised you would stay with us!"

    Taking a deep breath to try and compose herself, Wanda answered "I know that I did. But this time is going to be different, because I'm going to know where you are and that I'll be coming back. And when I see you again, Daddy's going to be with me." The exact timeline for Vision's restoration may have been unknown to her, but the only way she was going to see the twins again was if everything was put right.

    Anna added "So after you're done eating dinner, go and get the toys that you want to take with you. Don't try to take everything, just what you can carry."

    Billy asked "Where are the Avengers living?"

    "In New York, in your Uncle Tony's place. He's going to make sure you have a safe place to stay and I know that he'll be happy to see you again."

    The word came as a surprise to him. "Again? I don't know him, 'cept for when he's got his picture in the paper. Did I know him when I was a baby?"

    "You did. I even have a few pictures of you and your brother with him. When we're together again, I'll show them to you."

    "Mommy, wait." Tommy had a serious look on his face while she was speaking with Billy. "I need to get you something."

    Wanda wondered what that something might be as Tommy ran upstairs. Before too long he was at the table again with a stuffed elephant in his arms. "This is Elefun. I want you to have her while we're at Uncle Tony's so you'll remember us. Elephants don't forget, so I know you'll always think about us then!"

    “That's very sweet of you, but I promise I won't forget about you, ever. Even when I wasn't with you I still remembered that you were my boys. Once you become a mommy or daddy, you will always think about your children.” The time that her memories had been taken from her wasn't something Wanda needed to bring up. “And what if you need Elefun? You'll feel sad if you don't have her with you. I bet she'll know you need her more than I do.”

    That hadn't been something that Tommy had thought of. “Okay. Then I'll think about you and Daddy when I hug Elefun. Maybe I'll see you at night again. This time you won't be sad if I talk to you.”

    Teddy said “I'm glad my mommy doesn't have to leave me. If she did, I don't know who would do stuff for me. I wish I had aunts and uncles like Tommy and Billy do.”

    Anna quickly said “I'm going to get some things we need. I'll be right back.” Teddy's words had clearly made her upset, although what she could do about the lack of family ties Wanda didn't know.

    Teddy looked crestfallen. “Did I make Mommy sad? I didn't mean to.”

    Bonita spoke up for the first time. “I think that she just might be scared about what's going to happen. It's scary to have to go to somebody you don't know and ask them to help you.”

    “Mr. Stark knew my daddy, didn't he?”

    “Yes, he did. I bet if you ask him he'll tell you stories about him. And they'll have pictures to show you. Have you seen any pictures of your daddy?”

    “Mommy says she doesn't have any. She tells me I look like him, so I kind of know what Daddy was like. But I want to see the pictures.”

    “Then you should ask Tony about them when you can. In fact, I'll write a note to him saying you want to know everything about your daddy. How about that?”

    Teddy's face lit up. “Thank you, Ms. Juarez.”

    Anna came back with three bags. “We're just about ready to go. Wanda, will you call the cab for us?”

    Wanda wondered why Anna didn't want to do it herself, but guessed it had something to do with not leaving a trail behind her. “I will.”

    She made the call, and sat waiting. In the worst case situation this would be the last time she was able to be with her children, a thought she didn't like to dwell upon. The only consolation to that was that even if she did not make it through whatever happened with Robert Billy and Tommy would not be alone. Vision would be able to care for his sons in that case, and she knew he would love them enough for both of them.

    There was a honking of a horn outside. Anna said “That's our ride. Billy, Tommy, say goodbye to your mother.”

    The twins went to her and gave her hugs. “Bye Mommy. Come back soon this time,” was Billy's farewell.

    “I promise that I will try my best, Billy.”

    As the four headed off into the night, Wanda stood outside watching the cab drive off until the lights were no longer visible. Bonita had also come out, and said “When do you want to go?”

    “Let's wait a few hours. That way Robert will have less of a chance of tracking us down. He might even think we're staying here for now. Doubtful, but waiting will at least give us some time to plan what we want to do when we get there.”

    “Fine with me. I hope that Jan's gotten some of the people she was planning on getting. It will be nice to see everyone again.”

    “I feel the same way.” Wanda had to admit to herself that while she wasn't certain about how she felt about the Avengers as a whole, she did miss the people who made up the team. Her time with Bonita had shown her that some of the less known members could be excellent friends, if you took the time to get to know them.

    "Once we get there I'm going to ask someone if they'll come with me to drop off the car. We won't be needing it for too much longer if we're staying where Jan said. Besides, I'm not really eager to see how much it's going to cost me for having it."

    It wasn't exactly a major issue, but Bonita was directing her thoughts towards the minute so she could avoid the more difficult things that lay ahead. Wanda responded by saying "Ask Jan if she'll cover the cost of the rental. It's the least she could do for us."

    Bonita nodded, and asked "Do you think we should leave a light on or something?"

    "I don't know. What do you think? I'm not sure that will be enough to make a difference." If Robert did have the powers that he seemed to, leaving a light on wasn't going to be enough to trick him.

    "I'd like to leave a light on the porch on. It may not fool people into thinking that anyone's home, but it will look like Anna planned on going wherever she went. That alone might keep Robert from paying attention at first."

    The idea made so much sense that Wanda gave her a huge smile. "You're right. Let's get going, and be sure to leave a light on."

* * *

 

    As they were pulling up near the building, Bonita turned to look at Wanda. "Are you nervous?"

    "Not as much as I thought I would be when this started. I know there are at least four people in my corner now, and hopefully I can count on Hank and Jan from now on. I'm not even worried about what will happen if Steve and Tony find me. This time no matter what is said I'm not going to go down easily. I know I'm not crazy, and that I did nothing wrong."

    That sounded like the Wanda she knew – determined to do what she had to, even if it cost her. Knowing how she had been after she was accused of horrible crimes made Bonita very glad to see her back to something resembling normal. "I hope that there is going to be a fifth person on your side very soon as well."

    She looked out the window, and with barely suppressed tears said "I would like nothing more than for that to come true."

    Bonita patted her on the arm. “It will.”

    While there wasn't all that much inside, Jan did appear to have brought in a few things. There was a table and chairs in the first room they walked into, where there were six people sitting. She could see Hank, Magdalene, and Scott from where she was standing. Judging by their presence, Bonita guessed that two of the other people were Jan and Philip. The sixth person was currently talking, and she thought the voice sounded familiar.

    “So the guy repeats it again. 'Right. And remember: no damn Mexicans!'”

    With those words she recognized Miguel Santos, the Living Lightning. He had been called “El Dragon” by a few people, although when Bonita had asked him about the origin of the nickname he had told her “You really don't want to know.”

    She waited with Wanda for Miguel to finish telling the story. “So the night of the dance comes, and sure enough there are two military guys on the rich guy's doorstep, dressed to the nines. When he sees them, they say 'We're here to escort your daughter to the dance.' So the guy just blinks a bit, because both of them are black. Finally he says 'This must be a mistake.' And they tell him, no, it's not a mistake. At last he says 'But you're black.'” He was struggling to keep his laughter in as he finished with “So one of the soldiers who was there shakes his head and say 'Oh no, there's no mistake. Sargent Rodriguez never makes mistakes.'” Miguel was barely able to keep his laughter under control as he came out with the last word, and from there dissolved into hysterics.

    Everyone present also began to laugh, and that included Bonita and Wanda. Jan's head whirled around to look at them, and said “Wanda! Bonita! What are you doing here?”

    “There were some complications where we were staying,” Wanda explained. “So we made a decision that it would be best for all concerned if we were to just come and join the others here.”

    Wanda may have sounded perfectly normal as she spoke, but Jan didn't seem to be as at ease. She slowly made her way over to them, and while looking down said “I'm so sorry for what I said. Even if it didn't have the results people thought it did, that was still a hurtful thing to say to anyone.”

    With the same gentleness that Jan had shown in her movements, Wanda responded with “In a way your words helped me out. Thanks to all this, I was able to get something back I never thought possible.”

    No one asked what the meaning of her words were. It wasn't a good time to explain what they had discovered at Anna's, since there was so much else to talk about. Miguel was the first to say anything else. “This is going to sound really strange, but I'm glad to see you're not crazy, Wanda.”

    “I understand what you mean. How have you been? I haven't seen you since Christmas.”

    “Pretty good. My classes are going great. When Jan called for me I wonder if I should give some excuse to my professors about why I wasn't going to be attending for a while, but just decided to come and worry about it later. It's not like most of them take attendance anyway. And it's great to go and do Avengers stuff again. The last time that I was active was during the Kang crisis, and that feels like so long ago now.” He grinned.

    “I'm glad to hear things are going so well, and that you're not worried about being around me. With what you've heard lately I wasn't all that confident of a good reception.”

    Miguel sighed. “At first after everything happened I was just upset that you'd done all that. When I got back to UCLA I started to think a little bit about it, and then wondered why nobody thought you were possessed or something. I guess that the idea you'd gone nuts just didn't sit all that well with me. But since no one else thought that anything was wrong it never occurred to me to say anything.”

    Magdalene said “You and us both. If it hadn't been for us seeing someone who told us to go check things out there's no way that we would have ever gotten involved. We just didn't have enough status to speak up. I know that isn't how it should be, but like it or not there's a bunch of tiers on the Avengers, and we're in the lowest of those.”

    Jan looked at her and said “When we've finished with all this that something we are going to change. That's a promise I can make to you.”

    That was something that Bonita could get behind. There was nothing wrong with some of the more prominent members of the team being the first to get the call since they had the experience. The biggest problem that lay with that approach was that people who were working against them could also figure out who to target. Robert had done his homework very well in targeting the team members he had and it was a stroke of good luck that he hadn't thought of everyone.

    “So what's your idea for fixing that?” Philip asked.

    “There's a couple of different things that we could do. One is to have a few smaller groups we would have taking care of business instead of the one central one. I really like that idea because it would make it easier to take on multiple threats without having to break everyone up too much. Even if we don't end up doing that, I still want to see us work on reestablishing the West Coast branch. A lot of good people got their start there, and it would work to help get more exposure for people like Philip and Magdalene.”

    A familiar voice replied “That would be the one good thing about the time I placed myself in the position of leader of the Avengers. I would be more than happy to speak in favor of your proposal, Janet.”

    Wanda gasped and placed her hand over her mouth. Vision was standing in a doorway and did not seem to have seen her yet. The sound caused him to look in her direction, and he made the same noise. Both of them began to make their way over to the other with their arms extended. As soon as they met each other, they threw their arms around each other and began to kiss.

    Vision and Wanda stayed like this for a few moments. When they broke apart, they kept their eyes firmly fixed on each other. Vision whispered something in her ear, and they headed out of the room quickly.

    Everyone looked around. Scott was the first to break the silence by saying “Well, I think they might want to be alone for a while.”

    Miguel asked “Anybody want to go get pizza or something?”

    Jan raised her hand. “I'll pay. What does everyone want on it?”

    "Cheese," was what Bonita answered. As everyone was gathering up their things, she asked "Who else have you been able to speak with?"

    "I've gotten word back from both Julia and Walter. Neither one can come out yet - Julia's got to make arrangements for her daughter, and Walter's still got to submit some research findings. But they should be here in a few days. I'm heading over to the New Warriors tomorrow to speak with Elvin. Normally with the age thing I wouldn't be including him, but with everything going on he needs to be aware of the danger at the very least."

    Bonita indicated her agreement, and then the group left, save for Scott (who still didn't feel safe leaving), chatting the whole way. Bonita planned on mentioning the cost of her rental car once they got to the pizza place. It didn't feel like a good time to mention it before then.

    She smiled when she thought about Wanda sharing her good news with Vision.

 

* * *

 

    There was nothing more perfect than lying down with the woman you love in your arms, Vision thought. It had been far too long since he had done such a thing, and much of the delay was due to his own actions. If he hadn't been so foolish and stubborn Wanda would have become a part of his life again much sooner.

_This is no time for regrets,_ he thought. Placing another kiss on her forehead, he said “I missed you so. When I think about how much time I wasted...”

    “Don't talk about that, love. I'm just happy to be back with you.” The emotion in Wanda's voice sent warmth throughout his body.

    Running his fingers through her hair, he answered “As glad as I am to be with you, Curly-top. Even when I was saying that there was nothing left between us I knew that I was lying. I tried to move on, but my thoughts were never far from you.”

    Wanda blinked back a few tears. “Curly-top... it's been so long since you've called me that. I missed it so much.” She went and kissed him again.

    For a few moments Vision thought that she was going to start a second round of action, but she pulled away from him and sat up. He said “I heard about what happened at the mansion. I wish that I was able to be there with you. If I had been there, I would never have let them take you away. And it shocked me that Stephen was the one who said you were responsible. He knows you so well. How could he say something like that?”

    “I'm not sure if he did say those things. No one can exactly recall what it was he did say. And I caught a glimpse for him, and he...” She trailed off. “There are other things going on with him, I'm sure of it.”

    Vision wondered what sorts of things that Wanda was referring to. “Do you think that this Robert Reynolds did something to him?”

    She sounded surprised. “I didn't consider that. I do think he either made us hear what he wanted to us to hear or made Stephen say things he wasn't planning on saying. Not that it makes a difference in the end. But if he has been able to do some of the things I've seen him do, then it would make sense for him to work on Stephen.”

    He had to tell Wanda what he had seen. “I believe that I may have seen the man that we are looking for. Unfortunately, I was not able to place him anywhere. I wish that I had more information for you.”

    “You've seen Robert? What can you tell us about him? Anna saw a little bit of him, but all she could tell us was that he had blond hair. That doesn't narrow it down very much.”

    “When I had not yet been restored, I had several visitors. One of them was a man who I had never seen before. He was roughly average height, wore a costume I had never seen before, and seemed to enjoy taunting me. He was the one who told me that you were being blamed for all that had happened.” Vision did plan on telling Wanda at some point about having seen her mother, but the child who had been there could be left unmentioned. He did not like to think about how upset Wanda would be having to hear something of that nature.

    The name that had been mentioned earlier wasn't one he had ever heard Wanda mentioning before. “You spoke of an Anna earlier. Who is she?”

    “Anna Altman is a woman who Bonita and I were staying with after we both had a dream telling us she was in danger. And best of all she gave me a wonderful gift.”

    The smile on her face was so big that Vision knew this had to be something truly extraordinary. “What was it that she gave you?”

    “Something we lost long ago. Darling, our boys are _alive_.”

    Nothing in the world could have prepared him for hearing this. Vision wondered if he had misheard her. “Billy and Tommy? They are still here?”

    “They are, and Anna's been taking care of them since she found them. I don't know how exactly it happened, but when Master Pandemonium attacked they were transported to Anna's yard. She had no idea who they were, and they were too young to tell her anything. But Tommy knew who I was when he saw me. He said that he had seen us before, but we couldn't see him.”

    “I did see Tommy while I was under. He was one of my visitors, and asked where I was. I thought that it had to be a trick of some kind. I could never have allowed myself to think my children might still be alive." He had to work to keep the tears out of his voice. His sons were alive. There could be no greater joy than knowing your children were safe, and that one day he could be reunited with them. "But why didn't Anna tell someone about having found two children? Tommy and Billy may not have been able to tell her anything, but one's first reaction to finding children without their parents shouldn't be to take them in. She should have gone to the police. Why did she not do that?" 

    "Anna is a Skrull, and she's been living on Earth with the son of Mar-Vell and Anelle ever since troubles in leadership forced her to take Teddy and come live here. She has no papers, nothing to establish her status in the country, and was afraid of drawing more attention to her than would be wise. She was so frightened when we first met her, not that I could blame her. Anna was worried because she had gotten the impression someone was following her when she went out with the children. If it hadn't been for Tommy coming downstairs when Bonita and I were talking, I'm not sure that Anna would have shared her story with us at all."

    Vision absorbed what he was hearing. Anna's circumstances made why she hadn't reached out about the twins understandable. He hoped he could speak with her soon and tell her how grateful he was that she had still stepped up to the plate and not just abandoned them somewhere. If she had done that, then the odds were high Billy and Tommy would have wound up in foster care. After all, why would either of them have thought to look anywhere for children they thought were lost to them? "Do you know if there would be a chance of me being able to see them soon? I would like to be able to see my sons as soon as I can."

    "Maybe Jan could try and set up a meeting soon. I did promise them that their daddy was going to want to see them soon. And I don't want to leave you waiting, Vizh. It's already been far too long."

    Vision hoped that would be accomplished. He knew by now that it was going to be some time before he wished to be an active Avenger, if only because of the way they had treated Wanda. He had always seen Steve as being a completely reasonable leader who would not leave anyone behind. Yet based on what he had heard, no one had asked Wanda any questions about anything. "May I ask you just one question about what happened? Did anyone make an attempt to talk to you about everything?"

    She looked away. "Pietro did, a little bit. And Carol asked me why at one point. But I had no idea what I could say. I knew nothing about what had really happened, and it was like I was in a fog most of the time. It took me overhearing that they were considering killing me to snap me out of it, and that was when I ran."

    He tried to keep his anger under wraps. The very thought of Wanda's former allies planning on ending her life was something he was going to have words with them about at some point. Not wanting to deal with that right now, Vision said "I wish I had been there with you."

    Wanda turned her eyes to him and replied "It's enough that you're here right now."

    With that, there were no more words to be said. Vision pulled Wanda in close, and allowed himself to think of nothing else other than the happiness he had been granted.

 


	23. Danger Within

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anna finally goes to meet the Avengers, and tells them their true enemy's name. 
> 
> The Sentry finds that his efforts to drive the team apart have backfired, and lashes out.

    Tony was glad that tonight there was nothing happening. During the last two times the team had gone out, there had been some kind of conflict that came afterwards. The first one stung on a personal level, because Steve had disagreed with him on how he had approached the situation. That was something that Tony had seen happen before, and normally they could come to some manner of truce in the end. Having a different outlook than Steve was just something he accepted as being part of life, and while they would always have disagreements in the end they could typically come to accept each other's views while not agreeing with them.

    But this time hadn't gone that way. Steve had dug his heels in deeper and refused to take into account why Tony had felt the way he did. Things had gotten worse when almost everyone else had sided with Steve, saying that he was clearly making the most sense. The only Avenger to say that Tony had a valid point was Peter, and he had been drowned out by the other voices involved. Notably, the Sentry had just stood back and made no statements either way. A part of him hoped it meant the man agreed with him and just didn't want to cause trouble, but he doubted that very much.

    The second time had been worse in its own way. Rhodey had joined them this time and had done really well. Tony had been all praise, saying "Just let us know if War Machine wants to get back in the game soon. I'd forgotten how much fun it was working with you."

    "I think I'm going to be taking you up on that. Haven't had this much fun in a long time." After the previous encounter had ended so badly, Tony took a great deal of pride from being able to work with someone he could always rely upon.

    Steve had been listening to their conversation and responded with "I don't see why we couldn't expand the roster a little bit. You've been working so well with us that I'd be more than happy to have you around on a more permanent basis."

    And with a single sentence, the goodwill was shattered. The Sentry asked Steve "Was the point in assembling this new team not to go and move on from the old one? Bringing on War Machine would defeat the purpose of what you were hoping to achieve."

    It was a combination of factors that led him to lose it. The memory of what the man had said about Jarvis, his best friend being put down in such a way, and the realization that he was becoming more and more isolated among the team. Tony looked the Sentry face on and said "You know, I've had it with you! Ever since you've come here you've been acting all mysterious and letting us know how great you are. I held off when you insulted Jarvis, but you are not going to go and talk about my best friend like that! He's been with us for longer than you have, and you should show him some respect!"

    The subject of his outburst didn't seem to feel all that much about what was being said, maintaining a neutral expression throughout. Steve did not take Tony's words as lightly. "Tony, you can't just go and say things like that to people. The Sentry was wrong to say what he did, but you aren't the only person who makes decisions on this team. That's how it always goes with you - you can't deal with people who might have different ideas than your own."

    The lines formed by the team were exactly as they had been before. Normally when he had his disputes with Steve the others stayed out of it, letting the men deal with their own problems. Why was it now that he was being piled on? It was even worse now that Rhodey had left. "I don't want to make things worse for you, Tony."

    "Are you feeling okay?" Peter was the only one who was really speaking to him now, and had been the only one to also say something about the Sentry's words. "It's the second time he's done something like this. We can't keep letting this happen. Maybe we should give him one more chance, but I will say for myself I don't think I want him around anymore."

    "No." There wasn't much else to be said. "I'm almost wondering if I should be doing this anymore. Everyone else seems to think that I'm the bad guy here. Almost feels like I've been the one who's insulting people instead of the Sentry."

    Before Peter could say anything, Jarvis stepped into the room. "I don't mean to interrupt you, but there's a rather upset cab driver outside talking about how you need to get him his money."

    "Really? I haven't called for a cab for anyone. Does he say who it was for?"

    "According to him there is a woman and her children who are saying that they must speak with you. She hasn't given him a name, and does not seem to have enough money to pay for her ride."

    "Well, let me see if I can sort things out." Tony couldn't think of anyone that he knew who fit that description and would be trying to see him at this late an hour. He planned on covering her expenses even if it turned out to just be some random person with a sob story. Clearly there had to be something major going on to send her to him.

    Outside of the tower, a man was pacing back and forth on the sidewalk, cab parked right behind him. "Look, I don't know what's going on here but until I get my money I'm not leaving. She should have known how much a trip like this was going to cost her and I don't have any sympathy if she didn't plan well enough. My time is money and I don't want to waste it while I could be going and getting some actually paying customers."

    "You won't have to worry about the money situation. I've got more than enough here for you. Tell your passenger she can come on out." He handed over around five hundred dollars, an amount that Tony trusted would cover everything.

    The cabby's eyes widened as he took the wad of bills. "Well, thanks. Sorry if I was short with you. I've had people try to get out of paying me enough times that I don't want to hear whatever story they've got."

    He opened the door, and an unfamiliar woman stepped out holding the hand of a child. There were two other boys who were holding each other's hands, but Tony didn't know who they might be either. The only belongings they had were backpacks worn by the three boys and a small carry-on suitcase their mother was holding with her free hand. The children looked to be triplets, since they all seemed to be the same age. The woman walked over to him and said "I'm sorry for all this. We had to come in a hurry. I'm Anna Altman, and these are Billy, Tommy, and Teddy. I must speak with you and Captain America. It may be a matter of life and death for us."

    Tony gave a look over Anna. She still wasn't ringing any bells with him, and he wondered why she had to see him and Steve. "I think we can arrange for that. Come on inside. We can talk there."

    As they were going inside, Tony thought about how two of Anna's children had the same names as Wanda's did. There was a brief flash of memory of her saying something about birthdays, but as soon as he tried to grasp it the flash faded away.

    When the doors opened, they were greeted by May and Jarvis. "Why, hello there. It's nice to have guests here. So what are your names?" May was focusing her words wholly on the children, sensing that they were likely to be the ones most uncomfortable.

    "I'm Tommy, and that's my brother Billy. He's Teddy, and he's Aunt Anna's son. Who are you?"

    "My name is May, and I'm glad to meet you, Tommy. You know what? I bet that you boys would like to have some cookies right now. Edwin, do we still have any of those left?"

    "I believe that we do. Would you like to come with us and have some?"

    All three said "Yes!" in unison.

    Anna looked relieved to see the boys headed off. She told Tony "Thank you. It's going to be easier for me to talk about things without having those listening ears."

    Tony smiled to put her more at ease. "I understand. Have a seat, make yourself comfortable. I'm guessing that whatever sent you here in such a rush has to be something pretty serious."

    "Yes. It's not just something that concerns me, but I have good reason to believe that it concerns you and your team as well."

    Without the presence of children, Anna seemed to be more at ease. At times she looked around, but Tony felt that could be attributed to her not knowing where she was. "That wouldn't surprise me, since you felt the need to come here. You said that you needed to speak with Steve as well?" He hadn't been spending any time around him since their last fight, but was hoping that he could at least keep the peace between them while Anna told her story. "Peter, you want to go tell Steve we have a guest?"

    "Sure."

    Anna's face fell a little bit. "I hope I didn't come at a bad time."

    "Don't worry about it. You came here because you needed to talk to us about danger. That's more important than anything else right now." Tony hoped the tension in the air wasn't going to start causing trouble with Anna. She seemed to be trustworthy thus far and obviously had major information to give them. 

    Steve's entrance put an end to any of that type of thinking. "Hi there. I think you know who I am, but in the event you've somehow missed it: I'm Steve Rodgers. " Anna laughed. "Your name is?"

    "Anna Altman."

    "I'm going to say that something pretty big must have come up for you to come here. Can you tell us about what brought you here?"

    The next person to speak turned out not to be Anna, but rather Clint. He poked his head into the room and said "Uh, do you guys know why we have three children sitting in the kitchen right now?" With a raised eyebrow he asked Tony "Is there something that you'd like to share with us?"

    "No," he said while pointing at Anna. "They're her children." But seeing her shake her head made Tony pause. "They aren't your children?"

    "No, they aren't. Teddy was entrusted to me by his mother, and Billy and Tommy... that's a long story."

    Tony was confused. "But earlier didn't Tommy say that you were Teddy's mother?" Naturally there was a chance Anna had adopted him, but if that were true then she would have said he was her son.

    "That's what I've told them. But it's not true. By now I'm sure that both of his parents are gone, and I can't think of how to explain why I haven't been telling the truth about so many things."

    Steve asked "Is the reason that you haven't told him connected to why you're here tonight?"

    "In a way. I've been considering coming here and asking for help for a while now, but couldn't work up the nerve to do it. It all starts with who Teddy's parents really are."

    Everyone was sitting and waiting for what she would say next. Anna clearly was more than she first seemed to be.

    "Teddy's parents are Mar-Vell and Anelle of the Skrull Empire."

    It was most certainly not what he had expected to hear. "How did you and Teddy get here? What happened? And how come Mar-Vell never told us he had a child?"

    Anna went on to explain "I don't think that he was ever told that Anelle was going to have a child. By the time she found out he was already sick and there wasn't time to explain everything. Then to make things worse our world was destroyed, and that made Anelle's situation even more precarious. I was close to her, and one day she told me that things were heating up too much. So that she could be sure that Teddy would be safe, she sent us both to Earth. We had to go so quickly that there wasn't time to get any kind of documentation, so that made things harder than they might have been otherwise. I did have a friend who was able to give me some help financially, but other than that we've been on our own. And then one night things became even more complicated."

    It didn't take much for Tony to figure out this had to do with the other children Anna had living with her. "Would Billy and Tommy come into these complications?"

    She said "Yes. they would. I was in my home one night and could hear the sound of something outside. After a little while, I realized that it was a child calling for his father. I went out to the yard, and that was when I found the boys. They were only a little over a year old or so then, and couldn't tell me who their parents were. I hoped that I would be able to find out where they had come from so I could bring them home, but there was nothing in the news. After a bit I just gave up on finding answers and settled down to take care of them. That was nearly four years ago."

    Steve added "Since you didn't have proof of your residency or anything like that, going to the police wasn't an option for you. I'm sure that we will be able to find out who Billy and Tommy really belong to."

    Tony's mind was starting to add up some things. The names and the timing seemed to be pointing to an uncomfortable truth. His head started to pound again, but he forced himself to not think about that now. If what he was starting to think was right, they had been horribly deceived.

    Anna's face was carefully guarded as she continued with her story. "For the most part, things were normal until about a month ago. That was when I started to feel like someone was watching me. At first I just chalked it up to being paranoid, but Teddy asked me one day who the man watching us was. Then I knew something was seriously wrong. I started leaving the children at home whenever I had to go out and tried to avoid leaving the house very much. I did have a chance to meet with a friend of mine who told me to go to you, but I was afraid of what might happen if I did. What would you say about someone who didn't do anything about two children who just showed up out of nowhere?"

    "Well, I'd say that you were dealing with some pretty extraordinary circumstances." Clint was direct to the point, as he tended to be.

     She went on to say "But today everything changed. I had gone out to get a cup of coffee at a place I like to go to. I started to get that feeling of being watched and decided to get out of there and head on home. When I got out I heard a voice calling my name. I just kept going like I hadn't heard anything, but he kept talking to me, saying I couldn't hide forever. He said that I was ruining his plans, that he had a position he wanted to get. I ended up going and hiding in an alley, disguised as a trash can. He must not have seen me do it, because he kept asking where I had gone. If he hadn't gotten a phone call sending him away I don't know what might have happened to me." Her voice was beginning to tremble.

    Steve answered with "You're safe now. I promise no one will hurt you here."

    "I hope so. I've learned a little bit about the man who was after me, or at least who I think he is. I've been told that he has a grudge against the Avengers for whatever reason, and what his name is."

    "What is his name?" Tony wondered which of their enemies was trying to cause trouble, and why they would want to hurt Anna. Maybe he was another Skrull.

    "Robert Reynolds. I don't know who that might be or why he wants to hurt me."

    Tony hadn't heard of anyone who was called that, except for a Bob Reynolds who had done some work for the company a few years back. He looked around to see what everyone else was thinking. Clint looked just as baffled as he felt, but Steve was another story entirely. His face had gone utterly pale, and his mouth was hanging open a fraction.  _It's Steve that this guy knows? Who is he?_ He was shaking his head in shock.

    Looking back at Anna, she hadn't noticed Steve's reaction yet. He broke the silence by saying "I don't know him, but if he's going to cause us trouble then we'll do whatever it takes to stop him."

    He wanted to talk with Steve and ask who this guy really was, but two things kept Tony from doing so. First he wasn't sure that he could address this with Anna in the room, and second May came into the room at that point. "Just coming to let you know Edwin and I put the boys to bed. There's nothing like a couple of peanut-butter oatmeal cookies to make children listen to what you're saying. It worked with Peter, too." She looked at Tony. "I wasn't sure how many rooms they would need, so I just put them all in one of the bigger guest rooms. I hope that's not a problem."

    "It's fine. We can make other arrangements tomorrow if we have to." He still wondered what Steve knew. "May, would you mind going and taking Anna to a room of her own? She's had a rough day, and I'm thinking she might want to rest a bit."

    Anna got up. "I think I will. We can talk more in the morning."

    They left the room, and Steve got up to look at Tony. "We need to talk."

    That wasn't a shock. "Do you want to do it here, or should we look for more privacy?"

    "We need to go to the roof. This is very serious." His voice was as grave as Tony had ever heard it.

    Clint, who was still hanging around, said "You do know that I can just leave, right?"

    "This needs more privacy than that. Sorry."

    He shrugged. "I'll just go and take care of these bags, then."

* * *

 

    The roof was one of the places that Tony and Steve had used for a great deal of their talks about the team. Since there were no cameras there, you could talk without worrying about your words getting heard. Tony looked over the edge before saying "I could tell when we were in there you knew who this guy was. So what can you tell me?"

    Steve buried his head in his hands. "It's the Sentry."

    It was Tony's turn to have his jaw drop. "The Sentry?" Things were making more sense now. His headaches had been getting worse the more time he spent with the man, and he had kept himself at a distance from everyone else. Now he looked back at the time he had brought up doing some work on the mansion, and how he had pushed Tony away from fixing things. "But why? He's already on the team. If he had some grudge against us, why hasn't he gone and tried to attack us or something? And what on earth could he have against Anna?"

    His voice sounded wearier than Tony could ever remember it being. "I have no idea what's going on in his head. I only know that when he wanted to join us he told me his real name. I'd never heard anything about him, so I didn't think anything of it. And it seemed like a good idea to start fresh, with only a few of the old guard here."

    "I wonder if that's why he was so short when we talked about bringing Rhodey on. I don't see any real reason he would have had to object to him coming on board, unless he didn't want for things to work out." And hadn't the Sentry saying such things caused tension between him and Steve? That could fit into the plan he had mentioned with Anna.

    "Guys, we have a big, big, problem." Clint's voice interrupted their conversation. "I was going through the stuff Anna and the kids brought with them and look what I found."

    At first Tony couldn't tell why the object he had was important. It was just a blanket, one that was a dark blue color. But Steve seemed to know exactly what it meant. He shook his head and kept repeating, "Oh no, oh no."

    But the suspicions that had been building in him finally broke open. The memory was clear: Wanda, sitting with a blanket that looked just like that one with a child in her arms. And the dam broke. Tony now could recall Christmas, and Vision's heart-felt gift. The names and timing were not a fluke, and the reason Anna had never found who the parents of Billy and Tommy were was now evident. "Wanda couldn't have lost her mind over remembering the twins. She had known about them before. And they weren't just products of her desire to be a mother. If that were the case, then they wouldn't have wound up in Anna Altman's yard."

    Steve still looked to be dealing with the shock of what they had learned. “Wanda... How could we have done that? Why didn't we ask any questions? Why didn't we try to find her after she ran? And why can't I remember what it is Doctor Strange told us about her?”

    “Does it really matter? What we need to do right now is find out where Wanda's gone, and how we're going to deal with the Sentry. Let's go and get Peter and Jessica. This is something we need to address together.” Luke and Jess had gone to Danny and Misty's for dinner, and weren't likely to be back until tomorrow. Tony was only going to suggest calling him back if Steve thought that was the best plan. Trying to keep acting normal was going to help them go under the radar.

    Clint said “I'll go get them. Do you think that we should try and talk to anyone else?”

    “The only ones I can think of are Hank and Jan. But that can wait for a while. We've got the people we need here.” Steve still sounded like he was struggling to deal with the shock of what they had learned. And Tony had no idea of what he could say to him about that. Because they had done all the wrong things here. They'd blindly accepted a trusted teammate would turn on them in the blink of an eye, and hadn't bothered to look into ways to let the truth be known. Later on, when Wanda had run off, no one had thought of looking for her even with the danger she was thought to pose. How could you make things right after all this?

    When Clint came back with Peter and Jessica, Tony still hadn't come up with any answers to those questions. Jessica said “Clint filled us in on some of the basics. So who's trying to get at us here?”

    He and Steve answered the question together. “The Sentry.”

    She seemed as surprised as the rest of them. “I should have known something was up when he just came out of nowhere to join us. That's not normal. Do you have any idea as to why he's wanting to hurt us, or why he wants to go after some random woman? Even if we take into account her being a Skrull, that doesn't tell us why he would want to get her. ”

    “Anna, the woman who told us about him, thinks that he's got some plan involving us. She doesn't know much more than we do, although at least part of this seems to have to do with something she's found out. She's been taking care of Wanda's children since they were lost to her all those years ago.” There was a few moments of stunned shock on both their faces. “So that means that the idea of Wanda having created children out of nothing falls flat on its face. And if that's not true, one has to wonder if she really was the one who caused all that destruction before.”

    Peter then said “So he wants to get rid of any evidence proving Wanda's sanity. That leads me to think that  _he_ could be the one who did all those things. Or that he knows who did. Now things are adding up a bit better. I was talking with MJ one night about her, and she said it didn't add up that Wanda was just going to go nuts like that. And even if she did, how would she go about it in such a logical way? Sudden losses of reason don't lend themselves to coordinated attacks. I tried to tell her about how Doctor Strange had explained everything to us, but I couldn't remember exactly what he had told us. That didn't help my argument any. From that point onward I just tried not to think about it, because I was starting to question my own sanity here.”

    Clint asked “So does anyone remember what we were told about Wanda? I know I don't, Steve said he didn't either, and now Peter's saying the same. Something's definitely affecting our minds here, and I'm willing to bet that his initials are TS.”

    He was in agreement with Clint. “If he's really able to do something like that, why wouldn't he be able to make us turn on Wanda? Just have all this stuff happen, then bring in Doctor Strange to tell us its her, and keep us from looking too deeply into everything. That might even explain why I've been getting these headaches lately. I noticed once that they came on when I tried to think about certain things, and earlier when Anna was telling us about finding the twins I could feel one coming on as soon as I began to add up why they had the names they did as well as the timing of it all. But we still don't know why he's chosen to join us, or why he knows Anna had Billy and Tommy in her care.”

    Jessica added “And why does he want to blame  _Wanda_ of all people? If he'd gone after you Tony I could see the logic behind it, but Wanda's not the one you would think as being likely to turn against us.” She looked Tony in the eye and said “No offense intended, but you are a leader here. Destabilizing everything would start with you most of the time.”

    “None taken. I have to wonder if there's some personal thing directed at Wanda.” He asked Steve “So what exactly did our friend Robert tell you when he came to you about joining the team?”

    Steve pondered the issue. “I was out one day when we ran into each other, and he said that his name was the Sentry and he heard that we were in need of new people for the Avengers. I asked him a few questions about himself, which he didn't want to answer. I did get him to tell me his name was Robert Reynolds, and that he could fly and had super-strength. I wasn't all that sure about him at first, but then he showed up when we were ambushed. Since he did so well then, I told him we'd give him a trial run. With how he handled himself, I thought it was a good idea to keep him on. The Jarvis incident did bother me, but I still felt like we should give him another chance. After that there weren't any problems until the Rhodey thing. I knew that you had a valid point, Tony, but you still shouldn't have lost your temper the way you did. If we had an issue, it should have been kept private.”

    Tony felt dismayed at hearing this. On one had, it was good that Steve was acknowledging he had a point about how things had gone. But the lack of anything saying that therefore  _he_ had behaved incorrectly still hurt. Right now his own feelings weren't as important as solving this, so he stayed quiet. “I do think it's a bit unusual with how he came about joining us. Here's the thing: why has he only worked for us when we've gone up against anything? If your goal was to hurt us then it would be better to make sure that we fail at doing so.”

    Peter answered “I think one of the problems with how we're looking at this is that you're expecting him to make sense. Maybe everything was started by him to join the team and work for us instead of against us. I can see him coming to the conclusion that to do that he would have to go and get rid of the others. Even that idea still leaves a lot of questions unanswered, though.”

    Jessica put her hand on her chin. “Maybe he wants to be in charge of everything. Look, ever since I've met the guy he's been going and trying to be Steve's buddy. Taking into account the whole thing with Rhodey, I can see him going to push Tony out of the way so he can be second banana. But then if we take that as being the case the Wanda thing makes even less sense than it does otherwise."

    Thinking about the whys wasn't getting them anywhere, so Tony asked "What does everyone think we should do? I'm afraid that things will go very badly if we just go and confront the Sentry outright. But letting him stay on the team can't happen. What will happen if he runs into Anna while she's here?"

    Steve said "I'm planning on giving him a call once we're done here. I'd like to say that Tony and I have talked about what happened and because of that I want him to be suspended from anything team-related for a week. If he tries to come by before then, we'll make the suspension indefinite. First thing tomorrow we'll go and talk to Anna about the boys as well as who the person threatening her is."

    Clint shook his head. "I can get behind most of that, but how do you think she's going to feel knowing that the person she's been trying to avoid is right under our noses? I think we need to hold off on telling her that. Having her decide to bolt is not going to be good for us."

    Tony had to see the truth in what he was saying."I agree with Clint. Until we have a real plan for stopping the Sentry then Anna shouldn't know how well we know him. She might be so frightened that she will run, and then we won't be able to keep her safe. While she's staying with us, we should have a rule that there is always going to be one of us here in the tower with her. If Anna wants to go out, then we should go with her. Also, no one who isn't an Avenger in good standing should know that she and the children are staying here, with the exceptions of May, Jarvis, MJ, and Jess."

    There were nods all around. Peter then said "And as soon as we can we get the Sentry so drunk that he ends up spilling something he shouldn't." In response to the stare he was getting he replied with "What? As far as I can tell the guy is always so firmly in control of himself that it sticks out at you. So if he's always trying to maintain control, then I'm guessing that he's worried about what might happen if he lets it slip."

    The mention of drinking broke through another barrier in Tony's mind. Now he could recall what it was that he had been doing on that lost day. The book, inversion, and what he had seen from Doctor Strange he could see clearly. What made it even worse was the knowledge that he couldn't do all that much about it. Which was going to be a bigger priority, stopping someone who was bent on destruction or going and seeing if someone wanted help for their probable alcoholism? Not knowing the man all that well didn't help the situation any. Hopefully he would be able to speak with Wanda about the matter at some point, since she was the only one of them who had any connection to the sorcerer. If she ever wanted to speak with them ever again, that was.

   Jessica was now talking. “Even if we don't go and tell Anna who exactly the Robert Reynolds she's being followed by is, we might want to mention we've had some contact with him. In my own experience, people normally feel better if they have some idea of what's going on. How do you think that she's going to feel if every person surrounding her could be a potential enemy?”

    “Well, we're going to tell her something. It may be a little much to say we know the guy, but if Anna hears that we're going to leave no stone uncovered to help her it should go a long way,” Steve answered.

    “Should we go and call Luke tonight, or wait until he and Jess get back?” was the next question from Clint.

    “Wait. It's better if we try to act as normally as possible. Save for major emergencies, we don't go and get an Avenger during their night off,” was the answer.

    “So we've got a plan going here?” Tony asked.

    “I would say we do. It's time for me to make a phone call. Wish me luck.”

* * *

 

    It was another lazy night for the Sentry. With no heroic duties to keep him occupied, he was just sitting around his home. He had almost gone and created a disturbance so he could further work to drive apart Steve and Tony, but in the end figured that the last time needed to sink in a little more. “Soon they'll be at each others throats,” he said with a smile.

    The ringing of his phone brought him out of his reverie. He looked at the number and realized Steve was calling him. This was a good sign. Maybe he was going to talk about removing Iron Man from the team. The Sentry would be glad if that were the case. It was too much of a pain to have to work on his mind all the time.

    Unfortunately for him, Steve did not give him the news he wanted to hear. “Sentry? I wanted to talk to you about what happened with Rhodey.”

    “Of course. What do you want to tell me?” He knew that this was not going to be good. His danger sense was going haywire.

    “Well, I've been talking with Tony and we've come to an agreement. What he said and did was wrong, but you need to respect someone like War Machine who's been at this for a while. Tony wanted you off the team, but I stepped in and you're going to be suspended from the Avengers for a week.”

    It was a lie. Something else had gone wrong. Was it that damned spirit, or had the foolish Anna made contact with them? He reached out to see if he could see her now, but there was nothing but darkness. That pushed him to think she was still in her home, as before when Anna was there he had seen the same. “I understand,” he answer while keeping his voice as steady as possible.

    He was hoping that at the very least Steve would appear to be understanding, but his voice remained as firm as it had from the start. “I'm glad you do. When you do get back, I also want to talk to you about having respect for other people who we are working with. If something like this happens again, then I don't think I'm going to be able to help you out.”

    Not caring at this point what happened next, he ended the call and threw the phone across the room. Now what was he going to do? Spitefully, he made sure that Tony Stark had one of the worst headaches he'd ever had before beginning to look over what his options were going to be.

    The best course of action was to go and put a permanent end to the threat. He no longer cared if that meant he had to kill two children, if it made his position better then it was what had to be done. The Sentry transported himself to Anna's home and prepared to attack.

    Even though it was nighttime, there weren't any lights on save for one on the porch. It could have meant everyone was in bed, but as he combed the residence there were no signs of life.

    That stung more than the suspension had. Anna and the children were gone, and where they might be was a mystery to him. And the Sentry lost it. He went through the home, shattering glass and destroying furniture. “They will pay. They will all pay.”

    But when he went to the kitchen and began to throw the things that were in the freezer on the ground he stopped. He could not imagine Robert Reynolds having ever behaved in such a way, and up until now the Sentry would not have been so petty. “What am I doing?” he wondered.

    For a better man, that question would have led to some introspection as to whether or not one's goals were really the right path to follow. The Sentry only returned home, deciding that mundane destruction wasn't worthy of a man of his talents. He would think of a better plan tomorrow.

 


	24. Mornings After

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The morning after for Anna and Wanda.

    Anna was confused when she woke up in an unfamiliar room. Where was she? The confusion wore off as she recalled yesterday. She was at the headquarters for the Avengers, and she was safe. Robert Reynolds might still be able to find her, but with the forces that were now behind her he might not be able to actually hurt her. She hoped that the children were doing alright. Billy and Tommy still ran the risk of talking about how they had just gotten to see their mommy again, and would likely answer the question of who she was if asked.

    Last night she'd felt guilty about leaving out some of the details of both how she had known who was after her and anything about Wanda's children. The closest she had come to saying anything was when the woman May had been taking her to her room, saying “If you've really had someone going after you today then you need a good night's sleep. The children are already tucked in and resting, so that's one burden off your shoulders.”

    “Thank you. It helps that I've gotten some other worries taken away from me recently. I've spent too much time worrying about things here.”

    She was glad that no questions were asked about what those worries were. May had shown her the door, and said “If there's anything you need, either ask Edwin or Mr. Stark. I might even be able to help with a few things as well.”

    In response to that Anna had nodded. She wondered who May was. Edwin was Jarvis, the long-time servant of the Avengers, but she'd never heard of anyone else who worked for them. It didn't matter, and she went to get dressed. Her bag had been brought to her room at some point while she was sleeping as she could see it near the foot of the bed.

    Now that she was at least somewhat ready to face the day, she stepped outside and tried to remember which way she had gone last night. After a few moments she opted to go left and hoped it would at least get her to where other people were.

    “Hey there. You must be our visitor Steve mentioned. I'm Luke. Sorry I couldn't meet you before now, but Jess and I were out seeing friends. You're Anna, right?”

    “Yes, I am. It's nice to meet you, Luke.” She knew of Luke Cage in a fairly vague manner, but couldn't have conjured up all that much about him. Other than the major names on the Avengers, Anna knew nothing about most of the heroes in the city.

    "Are you looking to get something to eat, or do you need to speak to somebody?"

    "First I'd like to know where the children are. Then a little something to eat would be nice. Have you seen the boys anywhere?"

    "Tony's giving them a tour of the place right now. Steve said he wanted to talk to you about Billy and Tommy once you got up." Anna hoped this was in order to ask her more questions about what she knew rather than anything more directly accusing her.

    "Then let me know where I can get some food."

     Luke gave her a reassuring smile. "Follow me. That's where I'm headed right now."

    The kitchen was only inhabited by one other person, a woman who looked like she was going to give birth any day now. She was eating a bowl of cereal and said to Anna "Nice to meet you. Clint was just telling me about how you showed up last night. I've got to say that was gutsy of you. I'm Jess. As you might have noticed, I am very pregnant right now, so it is in your best interests to agree with everything I say. And also don't believe a word that comes out of my mouth."

    The humor was perfect for breaking the ice. Anna asked "How much longer do you have?"

    "Around a month. The backaches are starting to really get to me, so I'll be glad once my girl is put in my arms. The only real worry I have is if she ends up with Luke's skin. Then it's going to be trouble getting her the Vitamin K shot or the heel prick. He's convinced that there isn't going to be a problem, but I don't know about that."

    "Like I've said, Jess, there's about as much chance of that happening as there is of her going and starting to fly around the delivery room. We didn't inherit our powers, so what are the odds of passing them on?"

    "I know, but you know how these hormones are. There's nothing like calling Stephen at three in the morning because you're feeling something weird in your belly and want to make sure everything's alright. Given how off he sounded, I think it would have been better for all of us."

    Anna wondered if she should still be here. The conversation wasn't overly personal, but Luke and Jess weren't speaking to her in any manner by now. Luke asked "What do you mean by off?"

    "Just sounded kind of groggy, like he was tired. Didn't seem to remember it the next morning when I dropped in." Jess then seemed to remember Anna was there. "Is there something you'd like to have for breakfast?"

    "What do we have?" She wasn't going to abuse the hospitality of the team by making unreasonable requests, so asking what was there would help.

    "Oh, pretty much everything. Eggs, cereal - we've got it all. Just go and take a look."

    In the end all Anna chose was some fruit. She made sure to eat quickly so that she could go and speak with Steve. It was better to get things over with. It was odd for her how she felt more at ease around Tony than she had with Captain America. Normally it would be the other way around.

    Steve did come in before she was done. "Anna. It's good to see you. Is it alright if we went somewhere to talk? I'd rather this be done privately."

    "Of course it's fine." The nerves she had felt before were now starting to build up again.

    "Then follow me."

    She walked off with Steve, and they ended up in a small room. Anna thought that it might have been intended to be a bedroom at one point but as of now there was no bed or any other furniture. Steve asked her "Did you ever hear anything from Billy and Tommy about who their parents might be?"

    "Not really. Sometimes I would hear little things like the kind of music their father enjoyed listening to. That wasn't something that I could really use. The only conclusion I came to was that their parents couldn't be living nearby, because if they were I would have probably heard about them going missing. Unless their parents were dead, but even then I would expect to hear something about not being able to account for them."

    "I see." He sounded almost as nervous as she felt. "I think that I might have an answer for you about that." Steve then walked over to a dresser and brought out a blanket Anna knew quite well. "When you found Billy and Tommy, did they have this blanket with them?"

    "They did." He had to know, or at least suspect something. She still was not going to reveal what she knew until she knew it was going to be safe.

    Steve inhaled, and paused before he spoke again. "I'm pretty much certain that Billy and Tommy are the children of Wanda and Vision. They were going through a lot of things at the time they went missing, and we all thought they were dead. So that would be why you never saw anything talking about missing children. The blanket they had with them? That was my gift to their parents after they were born. The minute I saw it, I knew what had happened. This must be a big shock to you."

    Anna weighed what she was going to say for a moment. The best option she saw was to say "I knew already."

    He blinked and said "How did you find out?"

     "To start with, I have to say that I haven't been completely honest with you about some things. Part of the reason I felt confident enough to come to you was due to some visitors I got a while ago. They were Firebird and the Scarlet Witch."

    "Bonita came to see you? That is not something I would have expected to hear. How did they end up coming to see you?"

    So far she wasn't being pressed for details on Wanda. That had to be a good sign. If Steve did start to show signs he was going to hunt her down then Anna was prepared to lie. "Wanda told me they both had a dream telling them I was in danger. I was afraid to let them in at first, since my first fear was they had come from home in the guise of heroes. But something inside me told me I could trust them. After we were all sitting down, they asked me about Robert Reynolds and if I knew him. I didn't, and the whole time I was afraid that they would realize I wasn't really human. And then Tommy came downstairs, looked at Wanda, and called her Mommy."

    Steve still seemed to have a hard time understanding the whole situation. "But Tommy was only a little over a year old when he last saw his mother. How could he tell who she was?"

    "Sometimes he would tell me that he had seen his parents during the night. I believed for the longest time that he had been dreaming when he said that, but Wanda confirmed that what Tommy said on a few occasions was true. Now I think he must have been able to try and see them at times. At first Wanda didn't think it was possible that he could be her son either. I went to get that blanket because I hoped it would tell her if it was the case one way or another. And then she knew Tommy was right. The next morning, Billy had the exact same reaction to seeing her. I still don't know if there was some kind of ability that made the twins always remember who their mother was or if some other factor played a role."

    He asked her "What would you say your impressions of Wanda were when you met her?"

    "She was just a person who was afraid I might be in danger. Based on some of the things I heard yesterday, I'm convinced that the reason Robert Reynolds went after me was because he knew I was taking care of Billy and Tommy. He kept referring to them as 'the threat.' Why, I don't know." Anna looked down, not sure if the next bit she was planning to say was a good idea. "Wanda told me about what happened at the mansion. I can safely say that the entire time I was around her I saw nothing that told me she was mentally unstable or under anyone else's control."

    Steve himself now was not looking at Anna. "I didn't think she would be. Not any more." The second question shifted topics, but was a good way to keep going forward. "This may sound odd, but is Anna your real name?"

    "Not by it being given to me, no. But it's been so long since I've been called anything else that I've grown to like it a great deal. Besides, it's a bit nice to be able to choose your own name."

    There was a knock on the door to the room. "Steve? You in there?"

    Anna recognized Tony's voice and hoped that he wasn't the bearer of bad news. "I was just talking to Anna about a few things. Do you need something?"

    "Well, I just finished giving the basic tour of the place to our younger guests, and Teddy's worried because he can't find his mother. Oh, in other news Rhodey's flying back out here to help us out now that we're temporarily short a member."

    "Oh, I had no idea he was going to get scared like that. I'll go see him now."

    Anna quickly raced to the door to go and find her son, but Tony held out his hand. "It's okay. I know Steve had to get some more information from you. Sorry we didn't ask more questions last night, but you were keyed up from everything that was going on. From this point onward we're going to try and be straightforward with you." He moved out of the way. "Teddy will be glad to see you again. I've gotten to tell him so many things."

    Teddy was sitting in the room she had spoken to Steve and Tony in last night. "Mommy! I couldn't find you. I thought the bad person came and got you, but Mr. Stark said we were all safe here. He showed us all kinds of cool things."

    Tommy's voice came from outside the room. "We got to see some of his Iron Man armors! They were so cool. I even got to look inside one!"

    "The best bit was that I got to see pictures of Daddy. He really does look like me. I think we have the same nose." Anna held back her laughter at anyone seeing a picture of Mar-Vell and saying that the nose was the part of them that looked most alike. "And Mr. Stark told me some stories about him, and said there were people who knew Daddy really well, Mr. Jones and Ms. Danvers. He's going to have them come and see me so I can ask them all kinds of questions."

    Tony had followed in Anna's footsteps, and answered Teddy with "I sure am. It's too bad that your daddy didn't know about you before he died. If he had he would have probably left you with all kinds of things that would tell you all about him. But I'm glad you've got your mommy to stay with you. She's been a little tired because of the stuff that's been happening, and the Avengers are going to put a stop to all of that."

    Tommy stuck his head in. "How many Avengers are there?"

    "How many right now? About seven. There's me, Captain America, Hawkeye, Spider-Man, Power Man, Spider-Woman, and pretty soon we're going to have War Machine with us. Do you know who he is?"

    "Yeah. He's your friend."

    Tony grinned. "Exactly. He's coming here because the other person we have working for us isn't going to be around for a bit. You're going to like all of them. We don't normally have kids here. There aren't a lot of Avengers who have kids. It'll be a new experience for all of us."

    If Anna hadn't spoken with Steve about the matter of parentage she would have panicked a lot more when Billy said "Mommy and Daddy are Avengers. Do you know where Daddy is now?"

    Tony did not look to like the question very much. "He's off getting better from when he was hurt." Anna found the answer amusing, because while Tony clearly had come up with the answer as a way to avoid telling the truth it was actually as close to reality as she could imagine!

    "I hope he gets better soon. I wish I could see him like Tommy has. I can't even if I try real hard. Mommy told me she couldn't see him then or she would have come found us."

    Tony nodded. "I know your mom really well, and if she'd known where you were she would have gone and brought you home. Your dad would have done the exact same thing. I wish I'd been there to see you after you and Tommy were first born. It's not good to miss out on things that are important to your friends." His voice became unsteady at the last part.

    Tommy asked "Why weren't you?"

    "Because I was sick, and having a lot of problems because of that."

    "And now you're better." It was a child's logic.

    Tony looked down. "Not really. The kinds of sickness I have don't go away, ever. But I can do almost all the stuff I did before I got so sick."

    Teddy walked over to him and said "I'm sorry you're sick, Mr. Stark. Did you get it from other people, like when Billy was throwing up everywhere and then I started to?"

    "Kind of. If people in your family have it then you've got a bigger chance of getting sick. But you can't get it from being around people who've got it."

    Tommy was the most direct of all of them. "But what kind of sickness is it? Do you get tummy aches?"

    He shut his eyes before going on. "It's called alcoholism. It means that if I have a drink I'm going to end up having too much. That means that I can't drink, ever."

    All of the boys looked confused. "But what happens if you get thirsty?" Billy wondered.

    Tony raised his mouth a little bit, finding the confusion humorous. "The only thing I can't drink is alcohol. Everything else is fine. I'm not the only one who has a problem like that." The last part struck Anna as being odd. When she thought about it a little more, she suspected Tony wasn't directing his words at the children, but rather at himself. There had to be something going on here, and the mention of a team member being suspended made her think that might have played a role.

    Even with the unusual last part, the answer given by Tony satisfied the children, and they went off to do whatever it was they planned. Anna then said "I can guess by what you said that you know who Billy and Tommy's parents are."

    He replied "Yeah. I was starting to suspect it because of the names and the timing, but until Clint found that blanket I didn't know for certain. Has Steve told you already?"

    "He didn't need to tell me. I found out from Wanda herself."

    "You've seen Wanda? That's great! How is she? I was worried that something might have happened to her."

    "I would say she was trying to find out what was going on here. She was the one who gave me the name of Robert Reynolds. It was a bit emotional when she saw Tommy and Billy the first time. Wanda wasn't alone when I met her. She'd gone some time after she'd gotten away to meet with Bonita Juarez, and they came to see me together."

    "So she went to Bonita. That sounds like the Wanda I know. I wonder why she's never really been picked to lead us. Every time I or someone else has put her in charge of something she's excelled. Maybe when things are over, if she wants to speak to us again..." Tony's reaction to any mention of Wanda was vastly different than Steve's. The latter had far more guilt in his voice than Tony, who she would have said sounded relieved.

     "There are some other people who are working with them, but I'd prefer not to tell you who they are. They could be put into danger if their names come out." Anna hoped that Philip and Magdalene wouldn't be upset that she had even alluded to their presence. Something about Tony made her trust him more than anyone else there. Time could change that, as Luke had come on to her as also the kind of person you could trust.

    "Can I ask you if one of those people would be Wonder Man?"

    "No, he wasn't. At some point he was looking into things but along the way he seemed to forget about it. I never saw or spoke to him at any time when Bonita and Wanda were with me."

    Tony thought about that for a moment. "It might have been when he teamed up with us. That would explain it." What needed to be explained wasn't clear. Anna once again chose not to ask questions about it. There was still a lingering feeling of guilt for not having been honest with the Avengers from the start. "Question for you: is there anything you might need from your home?"

    "There might be some things. We had to leave so quickly. I am sorry about the cab incident, by the way."

    "Not a problem. I could have bought you a cab with the money I have just lying around here." He smiled. "Can you tell me your address?"

    "213 Spring Hill Road." She gave the name of the town as well.

    "Well, once you know what you need I can send someone to go get your things. I know that we could just buy new stuff, but it's always better to have things you're familiar with."

    One issue popped up in Anna's mind. "Are you sure that's a good idea? I know this Robert knows where I live. What if he's watching and goes after whoever you send?"

    "I'll be sending Rhodey to go do it, and if it looks like we're having trouble he can call for backup. But I've got faith we can do this little thing for you." He went on to say "Also, I've been thinking about some of the other things you said yesterday."

    She wondered what it was she had said that Tony would even need to think about. Maybe he knew of a way to see if Anelle was in fact dead. "What was it you were thinking about?"

    "You talked a little bit about having nothing providing proof of residency or anything that would let you go and do things like get a job or something. I'm thinking that we might be able to help with that problem. I'll have to talk to some of my people about what might be possible to do, but I'm almost certain that there's something that can be done."

    Anna felt like there had been a major turning point in her life. In just a matter of a week she had gone from wondering how she was going to get by and what to do with three children to having so many people on her side who were willing to pitch in and help out, including the parents of Billy and Tommy. "You're sure that you can help?"

    "Positive." Tony suddenly grew very serious as he looked her straight in the eyes. "There's one other thing I'd like you to do."

    "What?" Now she was afraid something was wrong.

    "Teddy, he doesn't know anything about his mother, right?"

    "No, not even where we really come from."

    "Then you need to tell him. Sooner, rather than later."

    "I don't know how I could do that. Teddy would hate me for having lied to him for so long. And what if I lost him because of that?" By now there was no way Anna could imagine life without her son. Maybe she hadn't actually given birth to him, but after caring for a child for so many years and having them call you Mommy you were going to think of them as being your own.

    "I understand why you feel that way. But at some point something's going to come up. Do you know if Teddy can shapeshift the way you can? How is he going to feel if he learns something like that years later? No matter how well you try to hide some things from kids, they come to light eventually. I think if you go and tell Teddy now, he'll be able to accept it better than he will if he's older when he finds out. His feelings towards you aren't likely to change all that much. Teddy knows who his mother is, and just because you don't have the title in a biological manner doesn't mean you aren't it. Take some time tonight and talk to him."

    Anna knew that Tony was right. "I will."

 

* * *

 

    There were only two other occasions when Wanda could recall having looked forward to waking up in the morning as much as she did now: during her honeymoon and the day she had given birth. The night before had been the most wonderful she could recall having for years, and after all that the knowledge she was able to keep going along the same path felt even better.

    She wished that she had a chance to ask Anna how her night had gone. She'd given the number over to her and Bonita, but it was better if she took the initiative in making contact. Wanda hoped that Steve and Tony hadn't asked her too many questions, or had learned anything about her whereabouts. There was still a large part of her that was afraid of what would happen if they did find her. Would the allies she had found be enough to save her?

    She could feel an arm wrapping around her shoulders. "Is there something on your mind?"

    Turning to look at Vision, she answered "I'm wondering how things went with Anna last night. She said that she was going to keep any mentions of either me or Bonita to herself, but I don't know what kind of questions Steve might ask her. And then there are the boys. Something could come out from Billy and Tommy saying they were with me again. If Anna sticks to her guns and says that she has no idea who their parents might be it will look like she's lying. To say nothing of the risk of them going and searching for me if the truth comes out."

    There was a hard edge to his voice as he said "I will not permit them to go anywhere near where you are. That those who called you a friend could turn against you so quickly..."

    In some ways Vision was angrier than she was. Wanda felt that the majority of her anger could be directed at Robert Reynolds, the linchpin for the whole crisis. Not that the Avengers were immune to any feelings of such - if for whatever reason when this was over they asked her to join them she had plans to laugh in their faces. And Steve in particular was not someone she was going to be friendly with for a very long time. But her first reaction to seeing anyone who had started out working with that day wasn't going to be an angry lecture. "Right now that's not something I'm worried about. The bigger issue is where Robert is going to strike next."

    Vision's voice began to lose it's edge as he asked her "Do you have any idea of what that might be?"

    "My first guess would be that once he realizes that there are a whole bunch of Avengers coming to the city he's going to want to go after us. That was what Jan said she was hoping for when we started to come together. This time if he does show up we'll be ready for him. It might also make a difference if he doesn't know that both you and Scott are here. Gives him a little less to plan for."

    "I understand why my remaining hidden is the best option for now. But there is something outside of this building that I want to see more than anything. I have spent far too long away from my sons. Is there some way that I could meet with Billy and Tommy here?"

    It hurt to hear the pain that was in his voice. Wanda wished that she could just wave her hand and have her family back together again. "Maybe there's some way we could work through third parties to have the boys come here. They want to see you, too. Tommy said that you were sad sometimes when he saw you."

    "When I saw him I thought it had to be a trick of some kind. Tommy said he couldn't see me and wondered where I had gone. Robert must have realized who he was as well, because he said that it couldn't be and that he had everything under control. He implied then that he had something to do with what happened to our boys. I still wish I knew why he did it. He even said he'd done something to Simon, too."

    Wanda knew that Simon had been affected by Robert's ability to warp one's mind due to the story she had been told by Magdalene and Philip. What was notable about Vision mentioning him was the clear concern in his voice. Ever since their brief period as a couple, he had been cool at best with any reference to the man he had once thought of as a brother. Had something come out to change things?

    But there were no further questions she would ask, since Bonita poked her head in right at that moment. "Good news! Anna left me a message saying they're all safe. Tony's promised he's going to help them out with whatever they need. She says she hopes we're all doing well, too."

    Vision asked "How much has she told them about the children?"

    Bonita did not look happy to be saying the next part. "They know. But they haven't said anything major about Wanda, and Anna wouldn't know where we are in any event. I'm sorry that there isn't more I can tell you."

    He asked "If you get any other communication from Anna, can you ask a favor of her?"

    "I can guess what you would like from her, but I'm sure that I can get that for you. More specifically, how do you want her to go about doing so?"

    "What I would like to do is to see if Anna is able to leave the tower and go somewhere else with Billy and Tommy. Then one of us could meet her and bring the boys here. I understand that it may not be possible, but I want to meet with my sons again."

    "I hope that there's something we can do about that. If Anna gets in touch with us again, I'll tell her about what you'd like to do." Bonita went and looked at Wanda. "Also, Jan was here earlier and she left this for you. It's a message from Pietro."

    Wanda went over and took the message. Her brother didn't say all that much, just that he was glad to know she was safe and had read what she had sent to him.  _Nothing makes me happier to hear that you have found your children again,_ he wrote. Pietro also said that he was busy with taking care of Luna right now, and that he would explain the reasons for that later on. There had to be something wrong if he felt the need to mention that, and Wanda remembered the conversation she had seen him having when she had looked at him. She hoped that Crystal was doing well, but doubted it was so. "It's good to at least hear from him again. When this is all over with I'm going to go and have lunch with him."

    A voice could be heard saying "Hello? Is anyone here?"

    Who it was didn't jump out at any of the three, so they left the makeshift lab where Wanda and Vision had spent the night and made their way to the main entrance. A man was standing there, carrying a bag that had a wonderful smell coming out of it. Miguel had also come out, and he was the first one to speak. "Hey, Walter!"

    Walter Newell, Stingray, then said "I'm glad to see you guys. I thought I might be alone here. Jan told me that Scott was here, along with Philip and Magdalene. I wouldn't have thought of those two when I think of Avengers, but then again I wouldn't have thought of me, either!" He laughed.

    Vision asked "How is Diane doing?"

    "She's great. Made sure I came bearing food. I've got several containers here of real New England clam chowder, not that abomination that this city gives you. Hope everyone's hungry and we have no shellfish allergies." Putting the bag with the food down, Walter asked "So does anyone have anything on this Robert Reynolds yet? Jan sounded so disappointed when I told her I'd never heard of the guy."

    Bonita said "From what we've seen, it looks like he can use some kind of magic. It would explain why he's been able to do so many different things, like making all of us forget the Christmas gift Wanda got last year. But we can't figure out why he wants to hurt us, or what made him decide to target her sons in the past."

    "Her sons? I was under the impression that it was Master Pandemonium who had attacked them. How does our Robert fit into this?"

    "From what we've heard, he had something to do with all of that. Whether he was just motivating Master Pandemonium to act or if he just made us think a different person was responsible isn't certain now. Maybe if we can find out who he is we can get an answer."

    Walter said "Okay, this may sound crazy, but I'm wondering if he might have had something to do with an entirely different manner. I was cleaning out the basement a little while ago, before the whole thing at the mansion, and I found something I couldn't explain. It was a DVD set for Super Bowl XLII."

    Miguel asked him "So what was so weird about that?" He blinked for a second. "Wait, why would you have something like that? Why would you want to be reminded of how the Patriots lost?"

    "That was what I thought, because I sure couldn't remember having gotten purchased it. It could have been ordered before the game, but why would I have canceled it afterwards? Looking at the case made it even more confusing. You see, this one gave me a very different outcome for the game. And when I watched it, I remember that was how things had gone when I first watched the game. So how come this hadn't come up before? When had my memory changed? I only showed it to Diane, because I was half-wondering if I had gone into some alternate universe or something. It sounds crazy to say it, but I wonder if Robert had something to do with this."

    "But why and how?" Scott had come in while Walter was talking. "Is it possible for someone to go and rewrite history like that?"

    "It can be done, if you use certain kinds of magic. Doing something of that nature would be very dangerous, though." Wanda was starting to understand a bit more about what might be going on with Robert and why he had chosen to go after Anna when he did.

    "Dangerous for the world, or dangerous for him?" Bonita asked.

    "Both. To start with, there's a good reason most people who use magic don't go and do something like that. Too many changes in the world, and the fabric of reality starts to unravel. It might be okay to have a day be sunny when it was raining before, but doing more will start to cost you."

    Bonita, who by now likely knew more about magic than most of the others did, went on to say "When you talk about unraveling reality, are we looking for things like the laws of physics changing or having universes start to collide with each other?"

    "It could mean both at the same time. And while I don't think we've gone that far yet in regards to the world, Robert is probably facing the consequences more and more. What benefit can the world get with changing the outcome of a sporting event? Even if your ultimate goal is going to be ruling the world, then you still don't need to change those irrelevant things that make no difference to your plans. I don't know when it might have come about, but somewhere along the way Robert's lost whatever he wanted."

    "So basically this guy by now isn't really going towards any goal, even if he thinks he is? He's just spreading havoc and causing trouble for no real reason." Miguel looked as if he was just beginning to figure out an answer. "Because he's used this magic so much that Robert's doing what it wants instead of what he might want to do. He might think that he's got an agenda and what he does is working towards it, but it's not really helping him in any way. Think about what happened with us. Why was it important to make Tony look drunk if he wasn't going to do anything with it later on?"

    That made more sense than anything else Wanda had thought of. If the motivation had been just to frame her, the incident with Tony was the one that made the least amount of sense. When the trouble at the mansion began, he hadn't been the center of any of the major attacks. Due to what was likely Robert's influence no one had looked at why she might have only gone for a relatively minor action against a major Avenger if she really bore the team such a strong hatred. "It also might show that he's going further down a bad path. According to Anna, all he had done before yesterday was just follow her around. She was convinced that he would have gone and killed her if she hadn't hid, and they weren't exactly in a private area. Even if all Robert did was minor changes like the one Walter noticed before he attacked us it would have a terrible effect on his personality. Do you really think that before all this he would have gone and tried to kill a woman, or to make the Avengers fall apart?"

    "Then we've been looking in the wrong places, if that's the truth. For the most part when you and I found out his name we went looking for people who had gone against the Avengers or had engaged in some type of villainous behavior. We didn't find anything there, and I thought it was because Robert had managed to hide his identity somehow. But there may have been nothing to hide. He wasn't there before, because until he started being able to do all of this stuff he was just a normal guy." Bonita then asked Wanda "Is it possible for someone to be born with the ability to use magic, without any training?"

    "I wish I could say either yes or no." Stephen would know the answer, naturally, but Wanda still was haunted by what she had seen of him. She still thought that Robert was causing his feelings of misery, but in that case he would not be able to help until the other man was taken down.

    Vision then added "I still am unsure if this will help, but I have reason to believe that I can identify Robert Reynolds if I were to see him. Could we try and see if we could look for pictures of those nearby who have the same name and see if he can be spotted?"

    "Great idea!" said Miguel. "I'm going to look through some sites and see who I can pull up. Come over and let's see if we can get something."

    It was a plan, even if it was going to take time. But the way Wanda saw it was that if they didn't go and find Robert before he noticed an influx of Avengers they would be on the defensive the entire time. Then the chance of victory would be much smaller.

    So they would sift through crumbs, hoping to find something of value there.

 


	25. Friends and Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which there are multiple reunions, of friends and family.

    When Rhodey had returned to New York, the first mission he thought he would go on would not have been "go to some woman's home and get some stuff" by a long shot. But when Tony had mentioned that he was going to be going out and getting some things from Anna Altman's home, he had interrupted and said "Are you sure that's a good idea?'

    "Well, I did promise Anna we'd get it done. I'd rather be the one going and doing something instead of making someone else do it."

    "So you'd rather be headed out into the open where the Sentry is probably going to go and look for trouble first?" Having heard that he was the one responsible for all the trouble they had been having was honestly a lot less of a shock for Rhodey than it had first seemed to be. The Sentry had come across as being a complete jerk when he'd first met him, and his dislike had grown even more over time. While he was normally filled with praise for Steve, Tony was a frequent target of his scorn. And there was a way about him that made you feel like everything he said was utterly correct, which had stopped working on Rhodey once he'd noticed it. To make things harder, whenever there was any kind of dispute among the team it was always Tony who got the short end of the stick. Peter was normally his only ally, and there had been a few occasions when Luke had also been in agreement with him, but the isolation his friend was getting grated on him.

    "If it really is dangerous, that gives me even more of a reason to go. Something happened to anyone else, I wouldn't be able to forgive myself. I'm one of the leaders here. I need to take the risk."

    Rhodey took a deep breath, and said "I'll go. If I take the War Machine armor to go there, it shouldn't be as risky as you're afraid it will be. For once, let someone different take the risk."

    Tony gave in. "I'll get you the list of things Anna wants. Also, see if the house is locked up. The way she describes them leaving I don't think anyone thought about locking the door."

    So it now stood that Rhodey was standing in the backyard of the Altman residence. He could already see a problem: one of the windows had been broken. "No prizes for guessing who might have done that," he muttered. Sure, there was a tiny chance it had been done by someone breaking into a home they knew was empty, but he wasn't planning on putting money on it.

    The yard wasn't visible from the street, so he could hopefully go and check everything out without drawing any attention to himself. If the Sentry showed up, he was planning on taking off and heading back before he could be noticed.

    Tony had been right about the home not being locked. He was able to turn the knob on the back door, and that was where he took off the armor. It would be safer for him if he stayed inside while going and running around, but Rhodey thought a broken window was enough property damage for one day. As he first walked in he realized that it made no difference if he gone in charging through the door. The place had already been trashed.

    Shaking his head, he went to take an inventory of the damage. The kitchen looked to be the worst affected, with melting frozen goods and ceramic pieces scattered all over the floor. "So not only are you trying to hurt us, you're an immature jerk to top it off." It wasn't much in terms of value, but the message of wanting to destroy everything Anna had rang clear.

    The living room and hall had also suffered the wrath of the Sentry, with wallpaper torn off the walls and furniture bearing holes and missing parts. It was one of those things Rhodey knew he would never quite understand: why was it always the case that villains took everything so _personally?_ No one would stay in their home if they thought they were being targeted for death. Even if your ultimate goal was to see them all dead, the best thing to do once you realized they weren't there would be to go and try to see if you could find them elsewhere. It all showed just how much they needed to stop him, because what was going to be his response to his suspension?

    "Forget that. Review the list." He'd spoken with Anna and the boys before heading out to know what they wanted. Anna mainly needed clothes because she had only brought one change with her. Teddy wanted his coloring books and his toy Quinjet. Billy and Tommy hadn't asked for anything to be brought back at all. There had been only one request from both of them: "Can you take us out flying like Daddy did?"

    He'd said "Why don't we wait a little while. For all we know your daddy's going to be back soon and then you can go flying with him again. I know that he'll be really happy to go and do that with you." With all of the other things Rhodey had heard lately, who Billy and Tommy's parents were felt almost like an anti-climax. So many other things he'd heard were turning out to not be true, so why not this?

    Upstairs hadn't been touched in the same way the lower level had been. Whether something had made Bob leave before he got there or he'd just not cared about it Rhodey couldn't tell. He went and gathered all the things he was supposed to get and headed out the door. He didn't bother to lock anything, since with the window already broken it wouldn't make a difference if someone wanted to get in. Outside, he weighed what to do next. There was no way he could fix everything, but it wouldn't take much time to at least make sure the kitchen floor was clean.

    But there was a strong feeling of being watched that had been growing ever since Rhodey had come back out. Deciding that the food was already beyond saving and there would be plenty of time to clean up before Anna returned home, he donned his armor once more and took off.

    Just being able to fly without any hassle was one of those small things Rhodey loved about being War Machine. It was almost as good as the things he was able to do to help people and the world while acting in that role. "Wonder if the offer's still going to be on the table when this is done," he pondered. No matter how everything turned out it was blatant that the Sentry would not ever rejoin them. If by some twist of fate they learned that he was not in fact fully responsible for the attacks on them, there was too much bad blood running among them for any reconciliation to occur.

    Tony was waiting for him on the roof of the tower. "Did everything work out?"

    "I got the things Anna and Teddy asked for. But I wasn't the first one there. Looks like our friend Bob came looking for them and threw a fit when he saw they weren't there. The whole first floor is trashed. I would have gone and fixed things up a little, but I felt like I was being watched once I got outside. Then I figured the best course of action was to get the hell out of Dodge."

    "That doesn't surprise me. I hope that he doesn't figure out Anna's here with us for a little while. I asked Steve if he has any idea of kinds of powers the Sentry has, and he really didn't know. So for all I know he was watching you. And I went on my own errand while you were gone, and discovered something else: Vision's gone."

    "Gone? Do you think that Bob took him, or was it someone else?" Rhodey hated having to call their enemy by his title due to his insisting on being called that. The name "Robert" still felt too clunky to use in casual conversation, so he'd gone with the version he knew best.

    "I'm hoping based on what I've heard that Wanda's crew went and got him. God, I hate thinking about how we just left him there. When I look back I can see the pattern, though. I did think about Vision and doing something about helping him out at times, and then I would always end up getting a headache. And then there's my previously lost day..."

    "Previously? So you know what happened now?" Tony had been so frightened by having a day where there was nothing he could recall and he also knew that he hadn't been drinking the day before. It would have scared Rhodey just as much if he had been the one struggling to fill the gaps in his mind.

    He became quieter. "I found something in a book that I thought might be the reason Wanda did what she was supposed to have done. Now I know that she didn't do anything in the first place, but I didn't realize that then. So I went to see someone about it, and then figure out they had been drinking a bit."

    "And you didn't think that looked good."

    "No. I mean, I know people can get drunk without having a real problem at times. But they were completely alone, were trying to conceal the fact they were having a drink in the first place, and I couldn't tell they were drunk until I heard a word being slurred a bit. All of that just raised too many red flags with me."

    Tony was leaving out one major detail: who exactly it was that he had seen in this state. "Is it alright if I ask who it was you saw like that?"

    "You can ask, but I'd rather not say it. I don't feel like sharing their problems with other people until I've had the chance to talk to them about it."

    Rhodey asked one other question: "Is this someone I would know pretty well?"

    "Not unless you've branched out a bit in who you're friendly with. I don't know if you've ever even talked with this person before."

    Tony may have been trying to hide who he was talking about, but saying that Rhodey didn't know the individual in question gave him an idea of who it might be. There were two components to be taken into account: the fact the the person was someone who Tony would go to for advice and was also someone he wouldn't be expected to know. One person seemed to fit the bill, but to be on the safe side he asked "Are they an Avenger?"

    He gave the expected response of "No."

    "Okay then." There wasn't much else to say. "I'm going to go and give Anna her things. Have you and Steve talked about what we're going to do now?"

    "I gave Steve the update on Vision, and he says that if Wanda and Bonita were the ones to get him they're going to need help in getting him back. I'm certain that would mean Hank, but I have no idea how to go and bring it up with him without sounding odd. If Wanda wasn't the one to get Vision, then our only other candidate is the Sentry. Showing up where he lives would clue him in to us knowing more about him than we should." He rubbed his temples. "I feel like such a terrible leader. I never thought about how well I knew Wanda and how little sense it made for her to turn on us like that."

    He put his hand on Tony's shoulder. "Don't beat yourself up over it. I think that Bob was playing with us then, so he could come on and join the team. I still don't know why he thought that was a good idea. If he hadn't gone and joined us, then Steve wouldn't have known who Anna was talking about. But with the way things have gone lately..." He didn't say anymore, seeing Tony was still looking upset. "Why don't we go downstairs and meet up with Anna?"

    "Yeah. Let's go." Rhodey wished there was more he could do for his friend, but for the time being settled for following him back inside.

 

* * *

 

    If Anna had been nervous when she'd first arrived at Tony Stark's home, it was nothing compared to the talk she was going to be having with Teddy in a short while. How was he going to feel hearing the truth about who he was and where he came from?

    "Mommy? Mr. Cage said you wanted to see me. Are you upset?" Teddy seemed worried about what might happen next.

    "No." It was a lie, but Anna had to keep herself together. "There are a few things I need to tell you."

    "Mr. Stark told me where Daddy came from. Why didn't you tell me?"

    That took care of part of the problem. "I couldn't tell you about that because of some other things. Let me show you something." She pulled out a small picture that Tony had given her from the cache of Mar-Vell's belongings. "This is someone who you don't know very well. Her name is Anelle, and she was someone who knew your daddy very well. I was one of her friends as well."

    He studied the picture. "Why does she look funny?"

    "She looks different because she isn't human. Her people are called Skrulls, and most of them look the way she does." The shape-changing was something Anna planned on leaving out for now. It would be too much for Teddy to handle.

    "But how do you know her? Did you go into space?" It made sense if he knew that his father had not been human to think Anna had to have gone traveling so she could meet him, and learning she had known Anelle must have been more evidence she left Earth to Teddy.

    "Yes. But not in the way you think. Anelle and I became friends when she asked me if I could do a favor for her. She wanted me to go and take care of her baby, because the place where we lived wasn't safe for him anymore."

    Teddy's voice was quiet and confused. "But what about me?"

    He had to suspect what the truth was. "That baby was you, Teddy."

    His voice began to quiver. "But... that means you aren't my mommy."

    She couldn't stand it. Anna went had grabbed him in her arms. "I wasn't the one who had you, no. But I am your mommy. I've taken care of you for so long, I can't imagine life without you. When your first mother told me to take care of you she knew I was going to fall in love with you. It doesn't matter if we aren't related the way people think we are."

    "If my other mommy was a Skrull, how come we don't look the same?"

    "Remember how your daddy looked like you? You look like him, and he was a Kree. Maybe you'll look more like her when you get older."

    "But you don't look like she did, either."

    Anna responded by shifting into her normal form. "Skrulls can change the way we look so I can look different. If I went around looking like I used to people would notice something was different about me. Anelle wanted us to be safe here, so she told me to look like a human does."

    "Can I do that?"

    "I don't know. You can try, but because your daddy came from a different kind of people you might not be able to do the same things I can do."

    Teddy didn't say anything else for a few minutes. "My other mommy, does she remember me? Why can't she see me?"

    "I don't know for sure. Your first mother was in charge of all of the Skrull people, but some of them didn't like how she was taking care of things. So they wanted someone else in charge. She did talk to us a few times when you were little, before Billy and Tommy came to stay with us. She might not be able to talk to us anymore." The truth that Anna suspected was Anelle had died some time after her last message to them. Whether she had been killed in the fighting or had been taken captive, either way she was not able to stay in contact with them.

    "Is she gone like Daddy? Then she wouldn't be talking to us, would she."

    "She might be. But I don't know for sure. I hope that the Avengers might be able to tell us more than that. I miss her, too. She was a good friend to me. I would be happy knowing what happened to her."

    Teddy sounded very worried. "If she does talk to us, what if she wants me to go and stay with her? I like being here. I'd miss playing with Billy and other stuff."

    "We'll worry about that if it happens. But I don't think you should think about that."

    Teddy had one other question for her. "Mommy? Why didn't you tell me about this stuff? Is that why we couldn't go places?"

    "It's part of it. Mr. Stark has said he's going to help us with all of that, and some of the problems I've had because I can't get a job." Anna hadn't thought about working most of the time she had been living on Earth. The issue of money worried her, but since she saw no way of establishing herself she just tried not to think about it all that much.

    "Anna?" Tony's voice interrupted them. "I've got the things you asked for."

    "Oh, thank you. You can put them in my room."

    Teddy got up. "Did you get my plane?"

    "I didn't get it, but my friend Rhodey did. He's putting it in your room. One more thing, Anna: your phone was ringing in the kitchen. You might want to get that."

    "I will." She hoped it was either Bonita or Wanda trying to get in touch with her. She'd left a message with Bonita the night they'd gotten in, but hadn't heard anything from that point onward.

    The number was in fact Bonita's, so she felt confident in calling her back. But the voice that answered her was an unfamiliar man's. "Hello?"

    "Hello? I thought this was the number for Bonita Juarez?" She at least took comfort in the fact he did not sound anything like Robert had.

    "I apologize for causing you any distress. You must be Anna Altman. I have somewhat of a personal connection to you."

    Now she could guess who was answering the phone. "Are you Vision?"

    "I am. I assume you know why I wish to speak with you."

    "It would have to do with Billy and Tommy, I know."

    "Yes." He paused. "I know that it may not be possible, but I want to see my sons more than anything in the world. I have spent far too long away from them. Please, if there is any way I can meet up with them I would want nothing more than to do that."

    Anna had no idea what she could say. She would be more than happy to go and meet with Vision to give him what he wanted, but what was the danger if she did? And what if the Avengers didn't allow her to go? "I need to think about what to do. I don't want to take any chances. I know that I'm safe here, but I'm still afraid of what will happen if I end up leading anyone towards Wanda. No one has said anything about her, but I can't forget what I learned. Let me think on it, and get back in touch with you."

    "I understand," was his answer, but the sadness in his voice broke Anna's heart. She wished there was more she could do to help.

    The sight of Luke gave her an idea of how she might be able to work things out. Before she could lose her nerve, she said "Excuse me. Can I ask you a favor?"

    "Well, that would depend on what you want me to do. How can I help you?"

    "Can you go out with me, Billy, and Tommy tomorrow?"

    The request took Luke by surprise. "I can, but why the three of you? What about Teddy?"

    "I need to meet up with someone, and they are going to take the twins to another meeting place. Their father wants to see them more than anything in the world, and I can't let myself keep them from him any longer."

    Luke pondered her words. "I can get why you want to go and be careful with getting the kids to their dad. But why can't they just tell you where to go, and I go with you there? It would be a lot less of a hassle than having to go through all this. Is Vision afraid that Robert is going to come after him if he shows up in public?"

    "He isn't the one who's worried. I am. I don't feel like I should be leading the Avengers to Wanda at this point. It's not going to be easy for any of them when they see each other again."

    He said "I'm an Avenger. What makes me different? I could easily follow whoever we meet and see where Wanda is. You trust me. Why is that?"

    She only had one thing to say. "You're not just an Avenger. You're a father." It might have been possible that someone else did have a child who didn't live with them, but Anna doubted it.

    Luke nodded. "I see what you're saying. Things change when you realize you're going to be a parent. Jess and I weren't really that serious until we learned we were going to become parents. Not that we didn't have feelings for each other, but neither one of us really wanted to go to the next level until Jess found out she was pregnant. Then wham! Everything changes." He added "I don't know Vision that well, but I know a lot about the kind of person he is. He deserves to have his family with him. I'll help you out."

    "Thank you," she said. "I hope that nothing happens while we're out."

    "Oh trust me, that is not going to be a factor here. You are going to be the safest woman in the city when you head out, I promise you. We've got your back."

    Luke sounded extremely confident, and Anna hoped he would be able to live up to his promise. "Then I'm going to call him back."

 

* * *

 

    If Vision had hair, he would have been pulling on it the entire time he waited for Miguel to come back. There had been some discussion over who should go and meet up with Anna, and it had come down to three of them: Walter, Miguel, and Julia. Bonita had declined to go due to Robert knowing her better than the others, Philip and Magdalene were still so unknown that they might not be trusted if they did show up, and John was the last person you would want to go and make a good impression on anyone. After a game of rock-paper-sissors to see who would be the one, Miguel had been chosen. Vision knew the boys wouldn't recognize him since he had joined the team after they were gone, but he was someone who you could trust fairly easily.

    Bonita had gone and helped out in her own way. She had asked if there was anything she could do to prepare for their reunion, and Vision had said "Something that will put us all at ease?"

    "How would some type of gift go over?"

    "I do not know. I can't even tell you what it is my children enjoy most. What kind of father am I if such a simple question causes so many problems?"

    Bonita had then told him "I think I know what will help. You'll be fine. I promise."

    Her friendship was something Vision had grown to appreciate. Wanda was by now very close to Firebird, and he was so grateful she had offered so much help when there was no reason for her to do so. Bonita had spoken about joining the Avengers again, and he had promised to speak in her favor if it became necessary. Even if they went by the roster formed before Robert wreaked his havoc, there would be empty slots. Vision doubted he would ever feel comfortable joining the team again. They had turned their backs on Wanda when she was most in need, and hadn't bothered to look into what had gone on beyond a surface glance. That was too much for him to forgive.

    Wanda was sitting and waiting with him. She had the good fortune of having spent time with Billy and Tommy before today, and had shared with him some of what she knew about their personalities and interests. She had also told him that there was nothing to be afraid of. "They know who their daddy is, and that would be you, dark-eyes."

    He wanted to believe that it was true. But how would the children feel knowing their father had rejected them, that for years he had thought of them without any feelings at all? The issue wasn't likely to come up during the first meeting, but what if Tommy and Billy asked why he had not tried to find them? Wanda could honestly say she had thought they were gone forever, but he had simply never allowed the issue to cross his mind until his emotions had returned. When that had happened he had been crushed by the realization that the worst loss of his life had long gone by and he had never been able to deal with it. But how can you explain such things to children?

    The minutes ticked by. Vision wondered if he should have gone instead of Miguel. What if by going out in public Anna was attacked by Robert once more? He knew who she was, and could be watching her at any time. She had said she wasn't going to be going out alone when they had made plans for today, but would the forces accompanying her be sufficient to keep her safe? If Anna were to come to any harm, could he live with himself afterwards?

    Waiting, waiting. The time was almost at hand. He could hear footsteps, and then a voice. "Just come right this way."

    Miguel made his way into Vision's line of sight. He was holding hands with two others. Even though years had passed, he would have known the two of them anywhere. Tommy was the first to say anything, running over with his brother saying "Daddy! Daddy!"

    He embraced both children the minute they got there. "My sons. My boys. I never thought..." There had only been a few times in his life when he had been moved to tears. The very first time was when he had been accepted as a member of the Avengers even though he had gone against them before and was not human. The most recent time he had been moved to tears was when he had finally admitted to Wanda that he was still in love with her in spite of what he had said many times before.

    Yet none of those times came close to how much he was weeping now with his children back in his arms. There were no words spoken until Tommy asked him "Daddy, why are you crying?"

    "I thought I would never see you again. I missed you so much."

    He nodded. "I saw you sad. But you didn't see me. Where were you, Daddy?"

    It was confirmation that Vision had in fact seen Tommy when he had been lost in that limbo. "I was someplace away from here. I had been hurt very badly."

    Billy spoke to him for the first time. "Daddy? Is the bad man coming back?'

    "The bad man?" Had they also seen Robert Reynolds?

    "Yeah. The bad man who made Mommy cry. Before we went to Aunt Anna's. He was there with the lady who shouldn't be there. She said she was sorry, but Mommy didn't hear her."

    From what Vision knew, Billy was talking about when Master Pandemonium had shown up and ruined his life forever. The lady mentioned had to have been Agatha, but what did he mean by saying she shouldn't be there? "The bad man is never coming back. I promise you." A guarantee might not have been the best thing to say, but as far as he knew Master Pandemonium hadn't been heard from ever since the day he had attacked the boys. The thought crossed his mind that it may have been because of Robert due to the words he had heard while he was incapacitated. If that was the case, he couldn't say he felt all that badly about it.

    Wanda had sat watching during the reunion. Now she got up and walked over to them. "Your Aunt Bonita went and got us something special." She produced the photo album Vision had given her. "I've got pictures of everybody in the family here. Do you want to see them?"

    Billy asked "Who's there?"

    Sitting down, she opened the album. "Right here is your Grandma Martha. She loved to spend time with you. She's Daddy's mother. Oh, this one is the time we had Uncle Simon look after you for the weekend. Do you remember how that turned out, Vizh?"

    He smiled as he thought of it. Since he and Wanda hadn't been able to fully enjoy their honeymoon, when Simon had gone and gotten them a weekend getaway in upstate New York they'd jumped at the chance. Vision at first had been afraid of how Billy and Tommy would feel about their parents leaving them for more than one night, but his research into child development told him that since they weren't six months old yet it would be alright.

    Simon had also said "Don't worry about getting a sitter, either. I'll play the role of loving uncle while you're away." He had sounded so confident of his ability to handle things that Vision knew he hadn't thought twice about going away.

    The sight of how things had turned out hadn't been as much of a surprise in hindsight. Simon had greeted them with a haggard expression, saying "And this is before they're walking." He had tried his best to handle the boys' care, but had been woefully under-prepared for dealing with two infants on a full-time basis. Simon had been surprised by being woken up during the night, saying that he thought you normally grew past that after a few months. He also hadn't quite understood all the reasons why a baby might be crying, and at one point admitted to sitting and looking up reasons for crying online. "I fed them, changed them, and tried rocking them to sleep. Nothing worked."

    Vision now looked back on the whole thing with a certain degree of respect. Yes, Simon had no idea of what he had gotten himself into. But he had also stuck with his decision even after the challenge had become clear. He could have gone to their mother and begged her to come and help him, but rather had gone and kept pushing forward. It said something about him. He made a vow to himself: once this mess was over with, he was going to take some time to sit down with his brother once more.

    "Who's that?" Tommy asked.

    He looked at where he was pointing. "That's your cousin Luna. She lives with her mother, your Aunt Crystal." Upon hearing the words, Wanda began to shake her head. He looked at her and mouthed the word "No?"

    She nodded. He wondered what had happened, but decided not to ask. Explanations could wait until later. Wanda went on to produce a different picture. "This is another picture of Luna, with your Uncle Pietro. I wish we had some pictures of you with him."

    "Why don't you?"

    Wanda gave a brief explanation. "He was having some problems and couldn't come and visit."

    Billy said "That's why Uncle Tony said he hadn't been able to see us before. But he said he was sick, and that he's not going to get better. Is Uncle Pietro better?"

    "He is. But Uncle Tony is doing better, even if he's still sick. That's why he's doing all the things he does now."

    Tommy added "Like being an Avenger!" Saying the word seemed to trigger something in him. "Mommy, Daddy, aren't you Avengers? Why aren't you with them now?"

    She looked at Vision with clear distress in her eyes. He had no idea what to say to them. Even leaving out the part where they were deemed the catalyst, how would you explain to your children that their mother was blamed for causing so much pain to the team? That her once allies had all gone against her, had decided the most reasonable scenario was her going mad, and had no comment other than a shrug when she was able to escape? He had to say something, and came up with "We're going to be taking a break from that for now."

    Wanda added, "Right now it's better if we all stay together. When you're on duty as an Avenger you don't always get to be with your family much. But it's been too long since Daddy and I have gotten to see you guys. Going away would be too hard."

    Tommy sounded upset as he said "I wish I could have told you where we were when I saw you. Mommy couldn't hear me, and you didn't say anything when you saw me, Daddy."

    There had been a few moments during his emotionless time when Vision had seen a child out of the corner of his eye, almost always during the nighttime. He'd only briefly thought of the resemblance that he held to his lost son, and had viewed the sightings as being nothing to be concerned about. Once he began to feel again he could not allow himself to think about what it meant. "You couldn't have done any more than you did, Tommy. Mommy and I wouldn't have believed we had seen you even if you had been able to speak to us."

     Bonita then entered the room. "I've got a surprise for you. Look at this." It was a Lego Avengers set, and had figures of at least ten different team members. "I knew that you'd like this."

    Billy looked at the faces on the box and asked "Where are you?"

    "I'm not in this. I'm not really a big Avenger, so people don't think about me too much."

    "They should. You're nice. Maybe Uncle Tony will ask you to stay with them when you see him again."

    The praise may have been flattering, but Bonita did not seem happy about the part of seeing Tony again. "That might not be for a while."

    Tommy began to tear open the box, and asked Vision "Daddy, want to come and build this?"

    Once more blinking back tears, he answered "More than anything."

 

* * *

 

    Now that Vision was distracted, Wanda went to speak with Miguel about his meeting with Anna. "So how did things go? Do you think Anna's going to be safe out there?"

    He laughed. "When I saw her she not only was out with Luke Cage and Jessica Jones, they had also brought Danny Rand and Misty Knight with them. Trust me, there isn't going to be a safer woman in all of New York right now."

    Luke was a good choice for Anna. Besides him being a formidable opponent in his own right, he also had no connection to her. Wanda had met with him once or twice, and she knew of his career. Neither one would have likely described the other as being even an acquaintance and he was almost certain to have not been targeted by Robert when he was causing the others to turn against her. She also knew that he was going to be a father himself soon, and that might have pushed Luke to help them. "Did she say when she wanted you to go and bring the boys back?"

    "There wasn't a specific time Anna said would be best. I'm going to say that it shouldn't be longer than a couple of hours." Miguel glanced over at Vision. "I know you want to spend more time with them, but if Billy and Tommy don't go back then there are going to be some questions asked that we can't risk being said."

    She understood. "Hopefully things will be over soon. Who else has Jan spoken with?"

    "She said that Sersi promised to get back to her soon. That would be great for us. I think the next person on the list is Rhodey."

    "Rhodey?" Wanda wasn't sure about him. Yes, War Machine was someone you could trust to handle almost anything, but he was also Tony's closest friend. If he were to let something slip, the new Avengers could be at their doorstep in short order. "I hope that things work out with him."

    Billy had gotten up while Miguel and her were speaking. "Mommy? Do you want to help us put the mansion together?"

    "Of course I do." If today she was only going to have a few hours together with her family, then she was going to make the most of it. Wanda did vow to send something back with Billy and Tommy, at least so Anna could be updated on what was happening here.

     As she sat down, she almost thought she could see Agatha out of the corner of her eye, smiling. But when she tried to look again it was gone.

 


	26. Hostility

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Avengers make plans to join together, but not all are able or willing to join.

    Rhodey hadn't felt too surprised when he'd gotten a call from Jan the day he came back. Jan was the communication center for the Avengers - if you wanted to know anything that was going on with the team you went to her. His visit before had gone unremarked upon, but coming back probably made her want to know what was going on. "Hi, Jan. Long time no see."

    "Glad to talk to you too, Rhodey. What brings you out here?"

    He weighed his answer for a few moments. "Catching up with Tony. It's been a while since we've really gotten to talk with each other. With everything that's been going on it's good to have friends you can rely upon."

    Jan became quieter on hearing that. "Are you staying with Tony now?"

    "Sure am."

    She paused. "Would it be possible for us to meet up today?"

    Normally Rhodey would have been happy to go see her, but he knew that they were starting to run out of time. The Sentry was going to be allowed back on the team soon, and they still didn't have any idea of how they could stop him. When everyone had gotten together to talk about him, the running thread had been all of the different things they had seen him doing. Taking this into account along with how he had made Tony seem drunk and caused them to believe the most likely culprit was Wanda instead of one of their numerous enemies, it looked like there were no cracks in the man's armor. Part of Rhodey just wanted to go and show up on Bob's doorstep one day and just try and take him down, although the odds for success wouldn't be good. A larger part of him knew that this was going to be a foolish thing since if they were not able to take down the threat Anna and the children would be left defenseless. At last he asked "Is there a reason you need to see me?"

    "Yes. It's team-related. But I can't tell you more right now."

    He was putting some of the pieces together, and decided that they could always use some extra help. "Where do you want to meet me?"

    Jan gave him the place, and Rhodey agreed to meet her around noon. The only person who saw him go out was Anna, who asked "Is everything alright?"

    "I'm just meeting with a friend. Don't worry." Anna normally seemed to worry about the safety of those around her more than was expected. Knowing all he knew about her now, Rhodey couldn't say that he really blamed her.

    Tony was meeting up with some of his lawyers today to see if Anna and Teddy could be helped in establishing them in the country. He'd told him not to let anything like that slip. "I'm sure we can help her, but I don't want Anna to get her hopes up too much. If there's anyone in the world who shouldn't have to handle disappointment, it's her."

    Anna had responded to him by saying "Have a good time." Yesterday she had gone out with Luke and Jess for a few hours - at least that was the story he had been told. The fact that she'd also taken Billy and Tommy with her had caused him to look at Tony and wonder if she really thought she was fooling anyone. For his own part Rhodey felt that if Anna wanted to go meet with Wanda she should go and do so without caring about what anyone else might do. At some point they were going to have to speak to her again, and deal with Wanda's very justified anger.

    Now he was sitting waiting for Jan. She came into the restaurant with a smile on her face, saying "I'm always glad to see anyone who's worked with us. And I just heard that you were here before, and I never got to come say hi. Sorry about that."

    "Don't worry about it." He got right to the point. "But I'm guessing that the reason for you wanting to see me isn't just to catch up on things. There's got to be something else going on. Can you tell me about it?"

    Jan wasn't surprised by what he said. "I'd have been shocked if you didn't realize I had an ulterior motive for needing to see you. But come on. How rude would it be if I just went off and asked you what I need to out of the blue?"

    He had to laugh. "I'd wonder what had gotten into you. So what is it?"

    "I'm trying to find out if you might know someone who I've gotten the name of. By any chance, have you ever met a Robert Reynolds?"

    The question was more of a shock than he thought it would be. Until speaking with Tony he had no idea about who Bob was. Rhodey had known that the Sentry wasn't showing all that much about himself, but he now was wondering how Jan had heard of him. "Until a couple of days ago, I would have said no. How did you come across that name, anyway?"

    Jan looked like she was going to jump for joy. "Finally! We might have a lead! The reason I'm asking is that from what I've learned this guy is the one who may have played a role in the attack on the mansion. I've been going around and asking people if they know someone with that name, but nothing as of yet has come up. So who is he?"

    Some of the pieces of how Jan might have learned the name were coming together. Anna had also heard the name, and she had gotten some visitors recently who had ties to the team. (So far Wanda and Bonita's visit hadn't become public knowledge for the team. Steve and Tony knew, and Rhodey had gotten the details from Tony when he'd come back. But the fewer people who knew meant they were better off.) "He's the Sentry."

    Her mouth moved silently a few times. "God." That was the only word she could say for a moment. "He's on the team. He's been working with us. No wonder we weren't asking questions. How did you learn about him?"

    "A woman named Anna Altman came to the tower one night, telling us about how she and the children she cared for had to flee their home because Bob had gone after her earlier that day. When she gave the name to Steve and Tony, Steve recognized it as being the real name of the new guy." Rhodey then went on the offensive. "And how did you hear that name?"

    Jan didn't even flinch. "Because I was given it by two Avengers who had been working to find out what had really happened during the attack. They started to get evidence that things couldn't have happened the way we were told they did, and eventually they met with Wanda. She'd managed to get the name of the Sentry, but since she'd never heard of him before it wasn't helping her much. I've been going and asking Avengers if they know the name ever since."

    "Then how come you haven't gotten to Tony or Steve yet? If I was talking to Avengers, they would be the first ones I went to." There had to be a reason behind her not going to them. Rhodey thought that at least part of that was her not wanting to risk the others finding Wanda. He did wonder who the other two Avengers were. Tony had told him Wanda had been working with Bonita since she'd gotten away, as told to him by Anna. But who could those two others be?

    Jan looked around for a moment. "Well, so far I've only been going for lower-level Avengers. The people who first began looking were just about the last ones you would think of when you thought about us, and they so far have been the only ones who thought the story we were told about Wanda didn't add up." She looked at him and said "Unless you had the same kind of doubts."

    It was the first time he'd been asked about it. "If I was just talking about whether Wanda had done everything, then no. I was more thinking that there had to be something else going on than her going nuts. But there wasn't anything pointing towards an outside source."

    "It fits the profile, then." She clarified her words by saying "Everyone who knew Wanda well, save for Pietro, had no doubts that she was guilty. And all of those people were fairly important Avengers. The ones who were more on the fringe had doubts, but still could accept the overall narrative. It was only when we got down to the very bottom of the barrel that anyone couldn't believe what we were being told."

    Rhodey now thought he was understanding what might be happening. "So are you trying to say that Bob's leaving people out who aren't the one's you'd think of? I'm sure that he made us more willing to turn our backs to Wanda. That best sums up why no one thought of anything else other than whatever we heard from Doctor Strange. Which I can guess you probably don't know any better than I do." If it hadn't been for what Tony had told him the other day, he would have asked why they hadn't heard anything from him since then either. Was it Bob who was causing that to happen or was it the troubles Tony had seen during his visit?

    "I don't. And right now I'm working with what we've been given." Jan grew more excited as she kept on speaking. "If our enemy is working on those he knows best, we need to go and get those he might not know. So I've been gathering together all of the lesser-known Avengers in one spot, and have been hoping to see if any of them knew anything. You giving us the identity of Robert means we can finally do something with him."

    Rhodey added, "But there's one thing I don't get. Bob's worked with the team for a while now. Tony has told me that while he's been a bit of a jerk to some of them he's always gone and helped out. So why did he cause all this stuff to happen before? I'm sure that the guy hates us for whatever reason, but why hasn't he gone and caused the new team to fail?"

    Jan shrugged. "I have no idea."

    There were two other major questions he wanted to ask. "Can I ask you something? Are all the Avengers you've gotten so far been lower on the totem pole? Besides you and Hank, I guess."

    "Not all of them. Two people we have are not ones you would overlook."

    "Is one of them Vision?" He had to find out the answer to that, for Tony's sake if nothing else. Finding out he was gone was causing him to panic, wondering if by taking too long to act he had caused a friend to fall into the grasp of the Sentry. Rhodey knew that the fate of Vision had a bit of a personal thing for him as well. Seeing his best friend worry brought him back to the time Tony had been lost to the nightmare of addiction, when he had first taken on the role of Iron Man. The not knowing of whether or not his closest friend was safe had haunted him for too long. Until they had finally met again, Rhodey had wondered if Tony had a bed to sleep in every night, or if the despair that had ruled him for so long had finally taken his life. He had been alone with his worries then and did not want to see a friend of his in the same boat.

    "Yes." Jan went on to say "But I can't tell you where he is now. Safety reasons."

    "I get it. You said earlier that you've been getting Avengers to help you out, right? Are you going to ask me?"

    "Yup. I've been going through my list, and you fit all of the criteria. You aren't the best known face, haven't been with us for long enough that people would remember you even if you were better known, and have good reasons for being here. Everyone else I've been getting here sticks out a bit save for the first few."

    "Who would they be?"

    Jan didn't hesitate before answering "The Swordsman and Magdalene."

    He had to think for a while before he could even conjure the two of them up. "What got them into all this?"

    "They were talking and started going into how things didn't make sense, and that the idea that Wanda had just snapped didn't add up for them. So they made the choice to go check out the mansion, where they found a bunch of things Wanda had hidden there. One of them was her Christmas present Vision had gotten her. Magdalene said the minute she saw it she knew the story we got wasn't true. But if they hadn't run into Simon a little bit after that she doesn't know if they would have gone any further."

    Tony had mentioned Simon as having shown up to help them at one point, which had been why he thought the person he was worried about might have been him. "So what happened with Simon? I know he went back out to California at some point. What did he decide to do?"

    "For a while he was helping Philip and Magdalene out, getting information on Wanda. But one day he stopped contacting them, and they weren't able to get a hold of him anymore. They eventually were able to get help from other people, but what happened to Simon bothered them."

    Looking over what he knew Rhodey could guess what had happened. "I can tell you what I think went on. Simon teamed up with the new team, and that was when he met the Sentry. Bob either heard something he didn't like or was able to look into his mind to find out what was going on. So he messed up his memories. That was what made him stop talking to Philip and Magdalene."

    "It makes sense now. Before we were wondering what had gone on. We knew that Robert had done something to make him just go off the way he did, but when and why that happened wasn't something we could explain." Jan then said "So, can I count on you to help us here?"

    He thought. And he hated having to say what he did. "Not unless you're willing to go talk with Tony."

    Jan didn't have any major reaction to what he said. "Why do you want me to do that? I'm not opposed to speaking with him about everything, but I don't want to bring people over to Wanda unless I know that she's not going to be attacked."

    "I don't think that you should have to tell him where Wanda is. I don't think you have to worry about what Tony's going to do even if he does find her, but speaking to him is important. We're only hurting ourselves by not joining forces. If I hadn't been in touch with Tony before you spoke to me, you might have never found out who Robert Reynolds was. By not working together he's able to do things he might be stopped at otherwise."

    "You're right. Do you think I should just meet with Tony, or is it better if I talk to everyone?"

    "Everyone. Are you going to come by yourself?"

    Jan said "If I'm meeting with everyone then I'm going to bring Hank, too. He wants to get everything fixed before it's too late. I think that he feels guilty for believing the worst about Wanda, especially since he's had his own problems in the past. He told me he still can't believe that he bought her just going crazy, what with all he knows about mental health issues."

    Rhodey shook his head. "Tell him not to beat himself up over it. We all thought that."

    She got up. "I'm going to get going now. Let Tony know I'm going to be speaking with him soon."

    He said "I will. Can't wait to see you tonight."

* * *

 

    If her conversation with Rhodey had been the only one she had with an Avenger prior to heading off to speak with Tony and the team, Jan would have been feeling great. But she had made a choice to reach out to Crystal before then, and was still haunted by what she heard.

    Crystal had answered her with surprise, saying "Jan! I didn't think I'd be hearing from you. How are you doing?"

    "I'm great. I've heard you're going to be making some changes soon." She wasn't sure if that was the best way to bring up the news of her impending nuptials, but how else was she going to put it?

    "Oh, you've spoken with Pietro." Crystal's voice had grown much quieter upon the mention of her ex. "So, what made you decide to call me?"

    Jan tried to sound as casual as she could. "There's some major Avenger's business going on now. We can use all the help we can get. I was thinking you might want to join us again."

    Her voice now sounded much more enthusiastic. "Oh, yes! I'd love to come and work with you! I just need to talk with Medusa and -"

    She was cut off by the sound of someone speaking in the background. Jan strained to hear what was being said. It sounded like "Who's on the phone?" Crystal's own words weren't any easier to hear, but the next sentence she heard was "Is he going to be there?"

    Crystal then came back on the line. "Sorry for being interrupted. Just need to ask one question: is Pietro going to be there?"

    Jan had two options. She could tell a partial truth, and say no. After all, she hadn't gotten Pietro involved in their planning yet. So he wasn't there yet. However, she was going to get him more involved fairly soon. And if the person who was making her ask that question was who Jan thought they might be, then lying might have disastrous results. Or she could be honest, and say goodbye to any chances of getting Crystal to join them. "I haven't asked him yet, so I don't know if he's going to join us."

    Crystal did not speak to her at first. Her voice wasn't clearly audible, but the words of the man she was speaking to came through loud and clear. "Tell them no! What good would it serve to have you running into that man again! His role in your life is over!"

    "I'm sorry, Jan. I really can't..." Jan could feel her blood running cold. She was certain that the other person speaking was Ronan, and if it was Crystal was not doing well. It wasn't abnormal to feel uncomfortable around someone your partner had dated in the past. That had been something Hank had admitted to when they had started counseling. She understood, because the times she had spent with Bonita and Greer had been somewhat awkward as well. But neither of them had gone and forbidden the other to spend time around their former dates. Sandra had explained to her that if that was the reaction of the person you were dating, then it was better to stay as far away from them as you could. Could Crystal do that without running into more trouble?

    "Say no more. Hopefully we can talk again soon."

    "Maybe." She sounded tense, and Jan wished that there was more she could do. Did the Inhumans know what they were putting her into?

    "Jan? You seem like you're a million miles away." Hank's words broke her out of her ruminations.

    "I was just thinking about Crystal. When I spoke to Pietro I didn't think things sounded good, but after today I'm really scared. I have a good idea of how things are going to turn out for her, and I don't know how I can stop it."

    Hank sighed. "Maybe if you went and spoke with Sue or Reed. I know they've got ties to the Inhumans. I don't like what I've heard either. Sometimes..." He didn't finish his thought.

    With how helpless she was feeling, Jan didn't want to think about Crystal right now either. "Let's go on inside."

    They were greeted by Steve and Tony as soon as they came up. Both men looked tired. Tony was the first one to say anything. "Rhodey told me a bit about what you were saying earlier. I'm just glad to hear that Vision's doing okay now. I was out of my mind wondering if the Sentry had gone and gotten him before we could."

    Jan had to be as gentle as possible. "Just to give you a heads up, he's not feeling all that good about the Avengers right now."

    "I didn't think he would. Even without the whole Wanda mess, we did go and leave him to rot. I wouldn't be feeling all that charitable towards us if I had been in the same boat." Tony looked down at his feet.

    Steve sounded even more uncomfortable when he said "Everyone's waiting for you."

    He hadn't been wrong when he said everyone was there. The entire team was sitting in the main room, and also Rhodey, Jess, and MJ were with them. The only person who might have wanted to be there who was absent was Anna. Jan waved and said "So I guess you're wondering why we came to see you."

    Clint shrugged. "Not all that much. What with the things we've learned about the Sentry and how he's set up stuff, at some point there had to be someone who would start to put the pieces together."

    Hank said "It's been even more complicated than you might think." He looked at Jan. "Do you want to go first?"

    "Yes." And Jan started to tell the story of Philip and Magdalene, how they had been drawn into searching for the truth. "Things didn't progress until one day they went to go meet with someone Simon had promised to speak with. With Simon not answering their calls, they wanted to get information somehow. And that was when they ran into Bonita Juarez."

    Steve said in a quiet tone "And I know from Anna that Wanda had gone to Bonita for help after she got away from us. So they met up then."

   Hank went on to say "Somewhere along the way they managed to get Vision back, and called me in to help him out. And that came with another surprise: Scott's alive."

    Jaws were dropping all around. Luke replied first with "It almost doesn't surprise me. So far the Sentry's always held back on issuing a killing blow. Look at what happened with Anna. He had her dead in his sight, but just stood around taunting her instead of taking action. Maybe he couldn't bring himself to go that far. Not yet, at least."

    Hank continued to explain how Cassie and Miles had come to them, to which Tony said "Now I know why she was asking me questions about where I'd put the stuff from the mansion." He went on to talk about how they had all agreed to start gathering together Avengers who may not have been as well known as one would think.

    Luke asked "Who do you have so far?"

    Jan answered "Miguel, Walter, Julia, and John. I've talked with Elvin, but he can't come in quite yet. Lupe isn't sure that she would go unnoticed, but is on standby. Sersi is coming today or tomorrow. And Aaron is going to be getting there any day now. I did speak to Crystal, but she isn't able to come."

    "So you've got a pretty good group there," Steve stated. "Where you planning on getting anyone who was more well-known at some point?"

    "I wouldn't say that I was opposed to doing that, but there were factors that kept me from wanting to reach out. Philip and Magdalene were the only ones who said they thought something wasn't right from the start, and they were the lowest of all. Hank and I didn't realize the flaws in the story about about Wanda until they were pointed out to us. And I didn't think of saying that when I made that comment to Wanda about her children I hadn't planned on saying anything like that. It just came out without further notice. Afterwards I felt too embarrassed to say anything to anyone else. It was so cruel, I couldn't think about what it said about me for doing it."

    Peter ended up being the first one to say anything. "You weren't the only one to say something like that. A couple of days after we got the new team together, I was talking to MJ about what had happened and when I mentioned Wanda being responsible I said 'Not a surprise she was crazy. I mean, she married a robot.'"

    MJ raised her eyebrows as she responded with "Believe me, I tore him a new one for that. I could remember the times he had told me about how sweet the two of them were together, and he'd never thought of Vision as being less than human before. Even if Wanda really had lost her mind, saying that was just plain cruel."

    "Yeah, once you started laying into me I wondered why I'd ever gone and thought something like that. It was so unreal. I didn't even know what I was going to say until I said it. Of course, it makes more sense when I think about how that was shortly after I first met the Sentry. Wasn't sure what to think of him then. I think I said something about how things were going to be different now, and he just gave me a bit of a dirty look."

    Tony asked "Is everyone in a central location, or are they all kind of doing their own thing?"

    Jan wasn't sure if revealing the truth would cause more trouble or not. "I've found a place for everyone. But I'm not going to take anyone there unless the need is urgent."

    Clint sighed. "I hate to say this, but it is getting that way. We don't have any plan yet for stopping the Sentry in whatever he's doing, and time is running out. Steve suspended him for a week because he bad-mouthed Rhodey and got into things with Tony, but that's going to end in a few days. Then what? If he doesn't know what we know, he's going to find out when he sees Anna and the kids." He looked down. "I feel like if we knew what he wanted we could do something else. Has Wanda had any ideas of what the Sentry wants?"

    "She thinks he's got something about her and the people around her. But since she's never heard of a Robert Reynolds before what grudge he's got isn't clear. Although I don't understand why if he hates Wanda his next act would be to join the Avengers instead of trying to get her." Before speaking with Rhodey, Jan hadn't known what the man was doing. He'd gone after Anna that one time, and sent the shadows to fight Bonita and Wanda. The knowledge of his actions didn't make his agenda any more clear, though.

    Jess began to slowly say something. "What if that was his goal? Joining the team?"

    Luke asked "What do you mean by that?"

    "What if hurting Wanda wasn't his overall plan, just a side-effect? What if he wanted to become an Avenger?" The pace of her speech grew as she went on. "Think about how the Avengers work. Normally you've got such a big pool of members to join that there isn't a need to look for new faces, save for when no one else can come. So if I were wanting to get on the team, then the best way to make that happen would be to get rid of most of the current roster. Look back at what happened with everyone. Jan got hurt, Jen lost it and attacked Vision, Scott was thought dead, and Wanda was framed for everything. The whole team was in disarray. If a new face popped up, and they were helpful, then of course you'd think about taking them on."

    "And," Tony added, "then of course you'd never want things to go back to the way they were before. I talked to our friend Bob once about how I was thinking about fixing up the mansion again, and he made it sound so logical that we should leave things be. And after we were done, my head started to hurt once more. That happened almost every time that I thought about what happened or doing something to go back to something resembling normal."

    Clint looked at Steve. "You're the only one who knows anything about this guy. Did he ever tell you where he lived?"

    Steve shook his head. "No. I never got anything except for his name." He then said "What Jess said before... I was talking with Sam at one point about how the Sentry seemed to want to be close to me so badly. Back then I thought he just wanted me to know how much he wanted to help. Now I don't think so. He was always making comments about Tony, too."

    "Even if we don't know his address is, I bet Greer could get it for us. Don't think that she'd use police resources for team purposes under normal circumstances, but this is becoming a matter of life and death. From what I heard it was only chance that Anna managed to get away from him."

    "Not really chance. I called him for a brief meeting. We talked about the direction the team was going. He kept going on about how Tony was creating division where there shouldn't be, and he needed to stop being so stubborn. And I agreed with him. I was so focused on how Tony wasn't agreeing with me that I couldn't see I was being as stubborn as Tony in my own way."

    Tony cut off Steve's self-recrimination. "Jan, you can get a hold of pretty much any Avenger if you want to, right?"

    "Sure can." She had an idea of what he was going to ask her.

    "Then I want you to start reaching out to the more prominent members of the team. You've got a place for the lesser-known ones already. We're going to be getting ready to go up against him, and getting more help is always a good thing."

    "I will be doing that. Do you think that the Sentry's going to start guessing something's up if he sees all of the old crowd coming together?"

     "I think he knows something's up after Steve told him he was suspended. If it had happened after the Rhodey incident, then Bob might have just thought he went too far. But after he said what he did, I was the only one to call him out on it. No immediate backlash makes the suspension seem even worse. I'm guessing that when he comes back he's going to have it out for me even worse than before."

    Jessica said "I don't care if he does realize we're turning on him. He can do far too much for us to not get as much help as we can. We've all seen him do so many different things, whether it's being able to channel energy or shape-shifting or controlling someone's mind. Clint, you told me that all of the things that were happening on the day of the attack were the results of Wanda rewriting reality, right? We were only half right. Someone's rewriting the world, but that person is the Sentry, not her."

    Hank said "I can believe that becoming an Avenger was one of the main reasons behind what he's doing, but if he can rewrite the world to his whims then why didn't he just make us think he'd always been there? I saw that happen on a TV show once, and it would be easier then just going and making trouble."

    Tony replied with "Satisfaction. Even if you can just go and get what you want without any real effort it's not going to feel as good as doing it yourself. I know in my own life I could have gotten a lot of things done by just coasting on my name and money, but that would never have made me happy. Everybody wants to make it on their own merits, or at least feel like they did. Bob's got an ego to him. He doesn't want to just get there. He wants to get there and have everyone fawning over him."

    Jan trusted Tony was telling the truth. He was one of the people who knew the Sentry best, save for Steve. "With what we've seen so far, I can buy that. Of course, if he could do all this stuff then why he couldn't just show up one day and prove we needed him is beyond me."

    "Look at what he's gotten done so far. I was going through some of the stories that have been coming out about us, and there are two people who keep getting the attention: Steve and the Sentry. People are talking about how he came out of nowhere, how mysterious he is, and how he's showing signs of being a leader. Some of that could be because he's working on people's emotions, but his own actions are playing a big role here. He always makes sure that he's seen doing something big, and that draws people in. At first I thought that the reason he was acting like that was him just wanting to avoid the trap of being one of those heroes everyone forgets about. But taking into account how he's been treating Tony... the Sentry wants to be the big cheese around here." Peter then said "And we've all fallen into his trap."

    "Then we can't waste time. Jan, get together as many Avengers as you can, and tell them they've got to be here in two days. Don't worry about Sam, I'm going to get in touch with him right away. I might be able to keep him away for a little while longer, but if we've got any chance we need to get ready quickly." Steve looked at both her and Tony. "Can we step outside for a moment?"

    She said "Of course." Tony followed her and Steve as they walked into the kitchen, the only place Jan figured they could be alone.

    Steve paced for a few moments before saying "Jan, I think that you should tell us where Wanda is. We need to tell her what we've learned today. The best chance we have of winning is to get her on board with us."

    His tone gave her an idea of what he was expecting to hear. "I can tell you, but you're not going to be welcomed with open arms. Vision's made it clear that he wants nothing to do with the Avengers for a long time, if not ever. If you do go, I'm going to tell you that you should go in civilian clothes and leave if she doesn't want to speak with you. I can tell everyone about what we've learned in that case, and send them over to the tower to help out."

    "No, everyone you've gotten should stay where they are. Two bases are better than one," Tony interjected. "Do you think there would be anyone else who Wanda might trust more than us right now?"

    "Besides the one's I'm getting? Anyone who was on the team during the whole mess we went through isn't going to be much better off. You and Steve also have a certain authority to you. In the worst-case scenario you'll just be able to talk to the others there."

    Steve said "I guess I should be prepared to take whatever I get. It's pointless to think I can spend the rest of my life avoiding Wanda and Vision. Hopefully you're not going to get in trouble for sending us there."

    "It doesn't mean much to me. I'm able to take it. Just try and make it brief." Jan began to write down the address, hoping she was doing the right thing.

* * *

 

    Steve had never felt like he had so fundamentally failed a member of the team before now. The closest he came before was during Tony's downward spiral, when he'd made the wrong choices while reaching out to help. That was still so much smaller than how he had acted in regards to Wanda. He had asked no questions, assumed the worst, and had even seriously considered ending her life. Jan was right - the odds of him getting a good reception were next to nothing. The threat of the Sentry was the only thing that kept him from just sending some message instead.

    Tony was calmer, and said "If things get too bad see if someone else there will listen to us. We've got to tell them who Robert Reynolds is at the very least."

    He knew, but that didn't make things any easier. Walking to the door of the building, he took a deep breath.

    The scene before them was one of relaxed camaraderie. He could see Elvin listening to Miguel telling some story, while Scott was working on someone's phone. Julia, Sersi, and Philip were all watching television, and Magdalene was reading a book. The first person to notice him was Walter, who said "Oh, no." Everyone's heads turned towards him.

    Philip got up first, not seeming too happy but also not appearing to be overly upset. "Steve. It's been a while."

    "I know." He paused. "Is everyone here? I know that you might not be happy to see me, but Tony and I have some major information on Robert Reynolds to share with you."

    "John and Bonita went to get some food for us. Last I heard they were arguing the merits of burgers over Chinese," Sersi said. "I kept telling them that they could just make two stops, but you know how John is." He couldn't argue with that. John Walker, US Agent, was hard to deal with even under the best circumstances, and these were far from that.

    Scott was the one who seemed happiest to see them. "It's not that we're unhappy to see you, Steve. It's how others might react to you being here."

    And with those words Steve was greeting by the specter of Vision coming down from the second floor. "What are you doing here? What is your purpose in seeking out us? If you want to get at Wanda, you'll have to go through me first."

 


	27. After the First Death

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wanda meets with the Avengers once again. Meanwhile, the Sentry punishes a one-time ally.

    There had never been any occasions when Steve had seen so much anger on the face of Vision. Against their opponents he was almost always neutral, save for ties when he had personal ties to them. On the times when someone had been able to cause Wanda serious harm Vision was more likely to fall apart in concern over her welfare instead of charging out in a rage.

    But now there was nothing but rage in his eyes. "There is nothing you can tell me that would let me allow you entry. You have lost any trust I have given you over the years. To see you turn your back on one who was one of your best allies! If you do not leave right now, I will be forced to see you out!"

    Every other Avenger present was looking at Steve. None of them seemed to want him to go, but no one spoke for a time. Elvin, of all people, was the first to say anything. "If they want to hurt Wanda, then we can go and stop them. But I want to hear want Steve has to say before we do anything."

    The youngest Avenger stepped forward. Tony said "All I want is to tell you what we know about Bob and what he's done. I know you hate us right now, Vision, but I still don't want to see you in danger."

    His words were cold. "Did Janet send you here?"

    Steve answered "I asked her if she would tell us where to go. But even if she'd said no, I would have found a way to track you down. Regardless of what you think of me, I have a duty to protect my teammates. There isn't much time left to spare."

    Vision did not answer. He heard a gasp coming from behind him. "This is not good," he heard Bonita's voice say.

    Tony turned to speak to her. "Sorry about meeting like this. I wish that we made more of an effort to keep in touch with all of you. Maybe then this could have been stopped earlier."

    Magdalene and Sersi had moved toward each side of Vision, waiting to see what he was going to do next. He took a step towards Steve, saying "Leave."

    "Let him stay, Vizh. If there's something Steve has to tell us, I want to hear it."

    He did not want to go and look in the direction that the new voice was coming from. Putting things off was only going to make it worse in the long term, and so for the first time in over a month Steve looked at Wanda Maximoff.

    If she had been angry, it would have felt less strained. With all that had happened between them, she had good reason to be mad. But her expression was completely serene, and her voice cool. She did not look at Steve directly while she spoke. "So you know who our enemy is."

    "The Sentry. He's been the one who's caused all this trouble. He's pushed his way onto the roster of the team, and has been trying to drive us apart. I don't know why he went after you, but he's not going to stop unless we stop him."

    There was still little emotion in her voice as Wanda responded. "Well. That explains why Robert was able to get to Simon the way he did. Has he tried to do anything to any of you?"

    Tony answered "He's been on me all the time, trying to put me and Steve at each other's throats. And it's been working. Until Anna showed up, I was feeling like I didn't have a place on the team anymore. Almost everyone was against me when we had any disagreement, and I didn't understand why I always had to be in the wrong." Looking more directly at Wanda, he added "Billy and Tommy are doing great. I heard them talking about how they got to see their daddy again, and let Anna know my lips were sealed."

    She didn't seem overly emotive, but did show some signs of emotion when she said "I wonder if Robert knew what had happened to them before we found each other again. It would explain why Stephen never got back to me after the whole incident with Master Pandemonium."

    Tony blinked. "Wait. At the mansion Doctor Strange asked us why he hadn't been contacted about the kids before. Now you're telling me that you did speak with him?"

    "Yes, as soon as I could. I waited for him to call me again, but when he didn't I just kept spiraling down more and more. For a while I wondered if I even had spoken with him, given how long it was before we saw each other again." Even thinking on the past seemed to bring a hint of tears for Wanda, and Vision went to her side and wrapped his arm around her.

    Tony shook his head. "I'm pretty sure that's not what happened." He seemed distressed, and Steve wondered what was wrong.

    "So you know who Robert Reynolds is. What are your plans to deal with him?" It was back to business for Wanda.

    "We're getting the rest of the Avengers together at the tower, the one's Jan hasn't wanted to get. A group is going to be headed over to the Sentry's home and see if they can find anything. I hope that if we could rely on the help of your group we would stand a greater chance of stopping him. But there isn't much time left. I suspended him from the team for a week when I learned what he'd done, but there are only a couple of days remaining. That was why I wanted to get here and speak with you." Steve still wished that Wanda would lash out. Her seeming indifference felt more raw than her hatred would have.

    "You're going to need some kind of protection if you want to have any chance of getting through his home without trouble. I can send a friend of mine to the tower to help with that." It was another rejection of them.

    "We'll send Jan with the information as soon as we've got everyone together. Can you tell us anything about who is going to be helping us?"

    "No. The less you know, the safer they are." While Steve knew that was true, it wasn't the reason that Wanda was being so curt with them. She wanted nothing to do with them, and was not going to play nice.

    "That's fine." How could it not be fine, after all that they had done to her? The last time Steve could think they had so wronged another Avenger had been during the whole disaster with Carol. It had been a long time before she wanted anything to do with them, and he couldn't see Wanda taking any less time than she had. "Do you want us to send Pietro over, or the boys?"

    "Why would you need to send Billy and Tommy here? Couldn't I just use my mind to create more children?" Wanda finally showing anger towards them at least put them on some familiar ground. "And the answer to both of them is no. I won't have my family put in any more danger than they have been in the past." She looked at Tony. "Is someone with Anna and the children right now?"

    "I've got someone watching over them at all times. They're under my care for now. I'm not going to fail them." The implicit meaning was not lost on anyone:  _like we did before._

    "That's good. And I believe we're done here." Her dismissal left no room for anything else to be said. Steve wanted to apologize to her in some way, but he didn't know how he could say anything to make up for what happened.

    Wanda may have had nothing else to say, but everyone else who was present wished Steve farewell and good luck. He gave a few nods to all, and walked out the door. Tony took a little while longer to follow him outside, and after around ten minutes joined his friend. "Ready to go?"

    "No. I want to do something to make things better with Wanda, but I have no idea what that should be. It kills me to see her being so cold with us, and Vision so angry. I understand why she feels the way she does..." And he could say no more. For so long Steve had been the one who all the Avengers relied upon, the one who everyone trusted. This was the first time he thought that trust might be broken permanently.

    "There might not be anything that you can do. Not everything can be made right. This could be one of those things."

    Tony sounded so calm about it that he had to wonder. "How can you say that? Doesn't it hurt to see someone who was so close to all of us turn her back to us now?"

    He replied "Because I'm used to it by now. I've had enough times when I've done things to my friends that caused them to reject me. People say all sorts of things about me, my company, and my demons. So what if Wanda's now among them? For you, it's different. You're the kind of person everyone likes and looks up to. It's kind of funny - when I was catching up with Scott Wanda was ignoring me, but didn't ask me to get out. That feels wrong. Shouldn't I be the one taking the heat here?"

    Steve had no explanation for it himself. He did ask Tony "How do you know that the Sentry wasn't the reason Doctor Strange didn't get back to Wanda all those years ago?"

    "Look, I just know. Sometimes you can make an educated guess as to the reason behind something like that." He sounded more short than Steve thought the question warranted.

    "Then I'm going to guess you're right." He no longer wanted to fight with Tony, and hoped they could head back in peace. Sam and Monica were already at the tower, and hopefully tomorrow would bring more faces to the table.

    As they made their way back, Steve hoped that whatever they were marshaling would be enough to withstand the forces against them.

* * *

 

_Everything is almost set right._

    How many years had Agatha been waiting for the pieces to fall in place? If she had been able to just speak to Wanda about what had really happened to the boys, then none of this would have happened in the first place. But the Sentry had placed a block on her the moment he realized that she was not going anywhere, preventing her from sharing the knowledge of how Billy and Tommy had really come into the world, or his own role in their destruction. Foolish man, not seeing how those limits just made her look for other ways to right the situation.

    At first the summoning of her spirit had been a minor annoyance. Robert Reynolds had made it clear that he needed to use her to convince all those who knew her former pupil that she was mad, that her sons were nothing but the product of a deranged mind. Agatha had doubted she would be able to get to Wanda and warn her without causing more trouble, so she had instead tried to go and get the attention of Stephen. He would be able to help out.

    In spite of his lofty position among the users of magic, she had to confess to not knowing the man very well. Their meetings had always been brief and professional, although also productive. But Agatha admitted that she should have realized something wasn't right when she was able to gain access to his sanctum without crossing any barriers.

    Seeing Stephen drinking to such a level broke her heart. It was clear that this wasn't just a problem in its own right by watching him in action. Yes, he was showing all the signs of having a serious addiction to alcohol, but the way he was using it looked to be covering up his own feelings of pain inside and out. Agatha wondered if part of the reason for his downward spiral was all of the burdens that had been placed on his shoulders, and his own inability to reach out for help. Unfortunately, there was little she could do right now to help him other than try and push Wanda to study with him at some point in the future.

    With getting outside sources of help ruled out, Agatha turned to what she could do to keep the children safe. Her first plan had been somewhat more complicated than she normally liked, but at the time it had seemed like the best option. If there was going to be a threat to their welfare, then they needed to be taken away from the threat. And from that the plan to send their souls back in time, to be reborn to new families had come about. Agatha had found two women who would fit the bill and if it hadn't been for two things she would have carried the plan through.

    The first thing that had haunted her was watching Wanda and Vision interact with their sons. She knew how fortunate it had been for them to ever become parents, and that if she were to take Billy and Tommy away that chance would never arise again. Perhaps at some point once the twins had a chance to grow they might encounter their parents once more - but what of the years that would be lost? What if the brothers never met each other in their new lives, and lived with holes in their hearts for their entire lives? Yet if it hadn't been for the initial plan, Agatha knew that she would never have come upon the proper solution to the dilemma.

    One of the women she had chosen, Rebecca Kaplan, had been reaching out to someone she had met at the store one day. "You need to get out more, Anna. Just going and buying groceries when you need them isn't nearly enough for Teddy to get the experiences he needs. Come to dinner with us, see a movie, just do something."

    Anna Altman had come off as being set apart from other people in ways beyond her isolation. A little probing had revealed the reason for this. She was a stranger to this world, raising a child not her own. She did not interact with others because she was afraid of being discovered by the forces that had made Anelle send her off with Teddy one day. But she had shown her loving side with both her son and Rebecca, and best of all she wouldn't be able to rush to the authorities right away if the boys wound up in her care. If Agatha were to send away the children as they were, it would be important that time passed before they could return home. She sadly doubted that either Wanda or Vision would be looking for their children if they were thought to be lost to them, and if no parents came forward before too long Billy and Tommy would be given to the care of others. Her plan only was to keep the family apart for a few months at most, until it was safe to return.

    "The best laid plans..." she muttered to herself. There had been so many other factors thrown into the mix that had put a halt to all that. Vision being taken apart and the loss of his emotions, Wanda's breakdown following all her losses, and the fact that Robert had not gone and done anything else after sending his minion to attack the children all tossed a wrench into things. What had happened with Wanda had been by far the worst, as in order for her to recover from the burdens laid on her Agatha had to make her forget her family for some time. That had taken more out of her than she would have liked. One of the consequences of being brought back from the dead was how much harder it was for her to use her magic. Blocking memories for a time would have been child's play in the past, but as the spirit she was it was as exhausting as running a marathon. And until Wanda could remember, the boys had to stay where they were.

    Once she had regained her strength, Agatha had begun to work with Billy and Tommy. She gave them a gentle nudge so they could recall the exact moments that led them to Anna's yard. When the proper time came, that would led her to the right people. Her hopes to bring all together again once Wanda was able to remember once again fell apart due to the lack of progress with Vision. At some point he should have started to feel his emotions once more, but that did not come about even a year after he was lost. She realized that by now it was a protective measure. Vision knew that if he were to feel once again the loss of his children would hurt him even more than it had hurt Wanda, because while the loss was painful for her she at least could hope one day to start again. He had been given an extraordinary gift in starting a family, and by having the twins taken from him he could no longer have the pleasure of being a father. His emotionless status was the only thing keeping him from feeling the pain of that and of how Wanda had suffered in due to his inaction.

    She had weighed what to do next, when one night watching over Vision there had been a shock. He was sitting around one night, not truly resting but not being active either. Agatha had then seen the form of Tommy entering the room.  _How had he gotten there?,_ she had wondered. He had gone over to his father and said one word. "Daddy."

    In the same flat tone he had possessed since the end of his marriage, Vision had answered "I am in no way a father."

    Tommy shook his head. "Daddy here. Come back, Daddy." He had reached over to his father's face, and had gotten the first trace of emotion from him in far too long. The toddler's hand touching his face had produced a single tear running down his cheek. "Daddy cry."

    "I am not your father," he had said with the hint of sorrow marking his words. "My children are lost to me."

    Tommy had said nothing else before vanishing into the night. Agatha had been curious enough about what happened to go and start looking at the Altman home during the night. She soon learned that there was some power to be seen in him. Tommy's nighttime journeys didn't happen every night, but he did go and see his parents often enough for it to be a pattern. Vision must have thought their first meeting was a dream, since at no time did he bring up what he had seen to others.

    Agatha tried to make sure the boys knew little things about their family. From Vision's love of jazz to the books Wanda read, all of those things she left open in the twins' minds. Anna did try to see if there was anyone looking for the children, but you could only look for one you thought you could find. If Anna had known more about the Avengers she might have made the connection between what happen in California and the children on her doorstep, but she normally kept from checking out the news. Lack of exposure to anyone but Rebecca and Jeff didn't make things any better. (Agatha still felt guilty about how Rebecca had been given the hope she was going to have a child only to have it taken from her suddenly. Her needing help to conceive was one of the reasons she had been chosen for plan A, since it would do no good to send a soul to a womb that was already occupied. At least she and Jeff had been able to start their own family recently.)

    Well, at least things had worked out to some degree with the boys. Agatha knew the minute Vision had held his sons once more her time was running out. For all the years since the Sentry had summoned her, it had been the promise of making things right that had kept her anchored to the world of the living. "Just a little bit longer," she vowed. Hopefully she would get to explain to Wanda what had really happened and what she should do next before going back.

    It still amused her how the Sentry had chosen to do such a foolish thing as conjure up the spirit of a powerful witch without having any idea of how to contain her. The man may have been given the ability to command powerful magic without any training, but he was not given the wisdom to use it. If he had been given some training, he would have known that you needed to have some type of protective barrier in place when and if you chose to summon the soul of a spell-caster. Robert could command her to go to California and have others hear her words as he chose. But Agatha was not constrained from her movements in any other way, so she could work under his nose to undermine his plans.

    She wondered what the purpose had been in giving him such powers. Robert was using some form of chaos magic in its rawest form. He had never gotten his hands on something that might have granted him those abilities, and he hadn't had any direct contact with the types of forces that would give you such powers. It was likely to have just come about as the result of some whim. When it came to what he was doing with those powers, Agatha leaned in the direction of already existing tendencies being magnified instead of the constant exposure to chaos magic causing his moral code to be eroded. If the latter were the case, then Robert likely would have started to make things better for the people around him before he started branching out to changing the world as a whole. But that was only a guess.

    Regardless of what had happened, the Sentry had served to plant the seeds of his eventual destruction by going and sending Master Pandemonium after the twins. He had thought like so many heroes of tragedy, that acting when you heard of a threat the future would pose was all you needed to stay safe. But prophecy had a funny way about it. Things pretty much never worked on a direct level. If you were to hear that someone in a red car would be the one to kill you, the wise thing to do would be to be more careful around someone who owned such a vehicle. Taking drastic measures against all those who had red cars was in all likelihood going to produce enemies among those you attacked, and in turn make the prediction even more likely to come true.

    The fortune-teller hadn't been one of the people who goes around believing they can see the future at all times. She knew that there was a chance she could see something, and more likely one's fate would be a mystery. Then again, most of the people who had seen her at the carnival hadn't really thought they were getting a real prediction. It was just fun, nothing more. Robert hadn't thought he was actually going to learn anything, and Agatha felt that if it hadn't been for how the prediction had been presented he would have brushed it off.

    And in choosing to strike he neglected to ask himself a basic question:  _how likely is it that the threat going to be in the absence of action?_ Being told that children would be your undoing should have made you wonder how that was even going to happen. What harm could babies do? If your first idea when you heard something like that was to try and destroy them, one had to question your priorities.

    Agatha had held out some hope for the man in how he acted. The Sentry could have chosen to directly confront the children, and that would have bode even worse for his character than his actions otherwise had. Robert relied on Master Pandemonium physically lashing out when he could not reclaim part of what he believed to be his soul. Her intervention had kept things from ever getting to that level and had stymied his plans for the time being. It had hurt to see how badly Wanda was hurting afterwards, but how much worse would have things gone if Robert had known of his failure?

    "You never even had to come into their eyes," she said to herself. "Why would you take such a risk?" In order for his plans to take flight, the Sentry should have stayed under the radar for as long as could be. If the tool he used had ever been questioned as to why he thought Billy and Tommy were parts of his own soul, then his hopes of becoming a hero would have fallen apart before they began.

    The day of the attacks had been one Agatha had known was coming. Robert had not been able to drive away any of the Avengers from the team, and if they would not leave he needed to get rid of them. So if persuasion wasn't going to work, brute force would do the trick. It had only been pure chance that more hadn't lost their lives during the assault. Jan and Clint had both come within a few moments of death, and Scott was lucky he had read the situation correctly or he would have been badly hurt at the very least. She would have helped out, but her powers had been depleted by recent activity. A part of her had hoped that Stephen would have been able to figure out what was going on when he got there, but from the moment he arrived Agatha knew he had been drinking again. His words hadn't made all that much sense to hear due to that. Unfortunately, no one really heard them. Everyone was later able to recall that Wanda had been pinpointed as the cause of everything but there wasn't much else that was clear. If Stephen had later on been able to look over how the Avengers reacted he might have seen something wrong, but the next day he only had trace memories of the whole event.

    Discovering who was going to help them out came out of the blue. Agatha had been surprised that Wanda was pushed in the direction of Bonita, only because the two women hadn't known each other very well. She hadn't seen anything in Bonita's mind that would have led her to pick her from a crowd, but things had worked out there. And searching for those who doubted had led her to Philip and Magdalene. They were the only ones who could not accept the narrative of Wanda's guilt, and looked at what they were told with a skeptical eye. Nothing about them showed any manner of resistance to mental attacks, so the most likely explanation was they had been overlooked. Just showing up in their home wasn't her favorite way of getting their attention although what other way did she have?

    Perhaps she should go and take a look at Stephen now. The man was one who would go and give, and give, and give until there was nothing more in him to be given, and then would feel remorse for not being able to squeeze even the tiniest additional drops of blood out of a stone. It might be enough to make sure that he was safe tonight.

    Agatha sent herself off, saying "Soon. Soon."

* * *

 

    Everything was falling apart.

    After his outburst at the Altman home, the Sentry had frenetically tried to get Steve and the others to forget they had taken him off the team. But he could not reach out and touch their minds the way he had in the past. It had to be because of the children. He now could look over the home his eyes had not been able to see before, although no one was there to observe. "Why didn't I make sure that they were destroyed the first time?" His life would be so much easier if he did not have to worry about his defeat.

    It might have been that dammed witch, who refused to leave the world of the living no matter how much he pushed. She didn't seem to be vulnerable to physical harm, and the few rituals he knew of to keep spirits away never lasted for long. His powers not working all that well on magic-users made the option of having someone else take care of her also off the table.

    In a few days his suspension would end, and by this point the Sentry knew that he wasn't going to let it go quietly. If the children and Anna had gone to the Avengers, then he was going to make sure that no one got out alive this time. No chances could be taken.  


    Recalling how he had first planned on handling the threat, he knew that it had been a mistake to rely upon another person to do your dirty work. His foolish inhibitions had placed him in more danger than he had ever been. And the Sentry knew he could not tolerate such failure.

    With a thought, he brought a guest into his home.

     Martin Preston, aka Master Pandemonium, looked as surprised to be there as anyone would if they were suddenly taken from one place to another. Of course in his case there might have also been shock that someone still found him important enough to take him. He had peaked with his attack on the twins, and afterward he had done essentially nothing of note.

    He took a few moments to take in his surroundings. When he saw the Sentry, he smiled. "It's you again! I never did get the chance to thank you for that tip. If I hadn't gone and met you I would never found some of the Five and then..."

    The words were cut off. "You fool."

    Now it was dawning on him that this meeting was not going to turn out well for him. "But I did as you said to. The souls were taken back, and I made sure..."

    "You  _idiot!"_ The Sentry began to create bindings to keep him in place. "You did  _nothing!"_

    The gravity of what was happening dawned on him. "I did exactly as you asked me to. I went and reclaimed the souls. Their threat to you was gone."

    He laughed at how little Master Pandemonium knew. "The souls." He shook his head. "You really thought that they were fragments of your soul, that you could reclaim them." He paced back and forth a few times. "Souls? They were nothing but children, children who were a threat to me. You were so eager to hear how you could get what you wanted you never thought about why I was telling you all this. Or even how two heroes were going to ever wind up with fragments of anyone's soul in the first place. You should never have absorbed them in any way - you were supposed to strike, to kill them!" He punctuated his words with a slap to the face.

    His arms and legs unable to move, his one-time ally looked stunned. "Children? You sent me to kill children?" Even though he had made deals with demons in the past as well as other terrible things, harming a child outright seemed to be a barrier Martin did not wish to cross.

    "Obstacles." The Sentry began to summon his shadows to his side.

    "But why?"

    "Because I was told that the children of the Vision and the Scarlet Witch were going to be my undoing. You were looking for something of importance, and I thought you would be the type of person who could be counted on to undertake such a mission." He used the ropes he had created to force his pawn to his knees.

    "But I did absorb them. They vanished!"

    "They vanished because they were taken away. You were never supposed to have succeeded. Once you saw your failure, I hoped you would lash out. And if you did not, then I would work on your mind to make sure you did. And then that dammed Anna found them! She took care of them, instead of at least keeping them from their family for all time. Now the Avengers know everything." His subsequent words were spoken one at a time. "Everything I have worked for is now crumbling, and it is all because of your failure."

     With the bindings keeping him in place, the shadows that were now standing at the Sentry's side, and the overall tone of their conversation, Master Pandemonium began to likely add things up. "If you wanted to go and eliminate the children so badly then you should have gone and done it yourself. I would never have gone and done as you said if I had known the truth."

    "And if I had known you would fail so badly, then I would have gone and taken you out before now." He took a step back. "But I have no problems telling you that from now on I will be carrying out all of my plans by myself. Even if that means taking a few more lives than I might have wanted." The shadows were now moving to surround the other man. The Sentry glanced over them. "Tear him apart."

    He turned his back as the first sounds of terror could be heard. With a thought he made sure that no sounds could be heard coming from the home. It was going to be some time before the job was done, because failure of that magnitude could not be tolerated. It gave the Sentry time to think about who else he was going to have to get. Wanda and Vision were on that list, as were their children. He no longer planned on sparing Teddy, because the boy needed to understand that his mother's actions had consequences. The Avengers were harder to deal with. He guessed that he needed to make sure that the majority of them were dead, but which ones he would choose weren't easy. Tony was the only sure thing, and of course if Rhodey was with them he would be taken down. He was leaning towards Peter being one of the ones he made sure was gone, and Jessica's loss would create a nice vacuum for him to fill.

    Another moan. "Oh, do be quiet." One of the shadows went and grabbed his tongue. Honestly, the next time he had to kill someone he was going to make sure they couldn't speak before acting.

    Thinking on the matter, the Sentry came to the conclusion that the only member of the team he could let remain alive was Steve. An attack that left only two survivors would make it easier for him to take command of whoever he was going to be charge of. He glanced out at some of the past Avengers, and noticed that several of them were not able to be seen. Had they gone to the tower?

    No matter. If there were more people he needed to take out, then that was what was going to be done. He went over to see the progress of the shadows. Master Pandemonium was still moving. Not dead yet, then. "Take your time," he said.

    It was over an hour later that the Sentry watched a man die for the first time. He had expected it to be mentally draining to end another life than it had turned out. All those years ago he had balked at being the one to take out the threats, and now he was feeling almost excited at the sight of the body before him.  _I should keep something as a souvenir,_ he thought. You always honored the first time you did something impressive.

    Dismissing the shadows, the Sentry wondered whether it would be a good idea to stay here. His home was virtually useless to who he was now. Robert Reynolds was good and gone, and he needed to move forward. The tower wasn't a place he could go as of yet, not until he had gotten rid of all the others.

    In a flash the answer came to him. There was a place he knew he could go without being disturbed or have anyone else know he was going there. In fact, he should have gone there years ago.

    Not bothering to do anything with the body right now, the Sentry willed himself to his new headquarters. The home hadn't been occupied by anyone for so long so he could see dust adding up all over the place. He'd learned years ago that the place hadn't been sold, which surprised him. While one of the former occupants might not have cared about what happened to his old home, he would have thought the other one would not have wanted to deal with the stress of owning property any longer.

    The Sentry began to set up the warning systems he felt would help him, and vowed that soon he would send for one of his opponents. She had caused him trouble for too long now, and in turn would get the honor of being his second victim. And with a shiver of joy, he began to prepare for their final confrontation.

 


	28. Showdown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wanda and the Sentry finally meet, and the consequences of their meeting.

    The home that Greer Nelson and Misty Knight were now preparing to enter didn't look any different than any of the other ones on the street. Not that Greer had expected it to stand out - being involved in law enforcement for the length of time she had made you think every home in the world had the chance of having something terrible happen inside. The Sentry thus far had been content to not make his presence known, so she had guessed from the moment she was asked to find out where Robert Reynolds lived that he was going to have a normal home instead of some elaborate base.

    "So how long should we wait for Monica to finish up?" Monica Rambeau had volunteered to enter the home before her and Misty could go inside. That way, they would know if someone was going to be answering the door.

    "A minute or so," Misty answered. "You ready for what we're going to find?"

    "As I can be." The plan for what they were going to do at Robert Reynolds' home was straightforward. First off, both of them were coming in with their badges so that there would be a reason to even ask for entry. Once inside, Misty had brought with her information about a break-in that had happened nearby so that they could at least speak with Robert about something. Monica would then be able to look over the place and see if there was anything of note to be found.

    Greer hadn't thought it was a bad plan, but did worry about one thing. "What's going to happen if he figures out who we are?" she had told Steve.

    "Someone's coming by to take care of that," he answered.

    That someone had been a woman named Holly that she thought she might have met once, but if they had it was so brief she didn't remember her. Holly had told both of them that she was going to conceal their identities with magic. "It's going to be subtle enough that you shouldn't notice any real changes. But anyone who sees you isn't going to be able to place your faces. I don't know how well Robert knows either one of you, so try to be as quick as you can."

    Misty said "I've seen him once or twice. Hope that he hasn't seen all that much of me." She then asked "What about Monica? Should she have the same thing done to her?"

    Monica herself was the one to answer. "I'm going with no. I'm just supposed to get in, look around, and get out. The Sentry is not going to be laying eyes on me if things go according to plan. And lets just say he does end up seeing me. I can be out of there in the blink of an eye and halfway across the country in that case. I'm not worried. You and Greer, you are the ones who have to speak to him if he's there. I know you're both normally capable of taking on anyone, but this guy has shown he can do all kinds of things. Got to keep all of our bases covered."

    Holly had said "Then I won't need to do anything for you. Good luck with everything."

    There was a flash of light, and Monica was standing next to them. "Stroke of good luck. Robert's not home, or at least he's not hearing anything. I made some noise when I was inside, but nothing came of it. There was one door that was shut, and I'm thinking we should all go check that out together."

    Greer asked "Do you think our friend's in there, or that he left some kind of trap for us?"

    She shrugged. "Either one seems likely. Only good thing is that you don't have to go and try and sell the story about that burglary investigation now."

    "Yeah, I still kept thinking he was going to notice my police ID is years out of date if he looked at it for more than a second." Misty hadn't thought about that issue at first, since Greer was going to be carrying her own badge. It was only when they were heading out that she'd realized that if the Sentry asked her questions she was going to have to say something. "Feels so stupid that I didn't think of it earlier."

    "With everything that's been going on, I can't blame you for not doing everything. Monica and I haven't been in contact with the Avengers since the mansion attack, so we're a little safer. But you and Danny have connections to Luke. If the Sentry's as careful as we think he is, then he's going to know you on sight." She asked Monica "Is the door locked?"

    "No. That was a little weird. He's put in so much to make sure that no one can find him, but doesn't even take basic precautions? I could understand it better if he was living in a rural area where a single car going by is an event, but not in a reasonably populated place."

    "Come on. You know that plenty of people go through their lives always thinking something will never happen to them. I bet Robert thinks his powers are enough to get him through whatever might happen." Misty gestured to the door. "Now let's get inside."

    The overwhelming sense that Greer got from her first look inside was "normal." But this wasn't the kind of normal that you see in your everyday life. Homes almost always have something that will catch your eye when you walk in, whether it's the collection of paintings on the walls or the multiple bookcases lining the hall. Robert Reynolds had the kind of home that you would see in a showing of model homes, or in a magazine devoted to decorating. Nothing was out of place, there were none of the unusual things people tended to gather, and everything was completely spotless. "Either this guy's got a neat streak or he's trying to hide something."

    "It's got to be in the room with the door shut. Bet he's keeping his secret plans for world domination in there." Misty was already beginning to head upstairs. Greer began to head off somewhere else downstairs, when she heard her voice say "Oh, God."

    As fast as she could, she bounded up the stairs. The reason for Misty's words was quite clear now. The room looked to be a bedroom, and lying on the ground near the bed was the bloody corpse of a man. It looked like he had been torn limb-from-limb, and there was a pool of blood spreading all over the floor.

    Kneeling down next to the body, Greer looked to see if there was anything she could use to tell who the man might have been in life. There wasn't much of his face left, and she still wasn't even sure that she was looking at a man at all. But there was something in what looked to be the torso of the victim that gave her an idea of who this might be. "I think I know this guy."

    Misty, who was also kneeling down by the bed, asked "Who?"

    "If I'm seeing these markings the way I think I am, we are looking at what once was Master Pandemonium."

    Mentioning the name still stung inside. Greer had wished for some time after what happened with Billy and Tommy that she had been able to take down the man before he caused more harm. She had been given a responsibility to stop a dangerous foe and had failed in doing so. Coming to the tower recently and learning that the children had lived in the care of Anna Altman for years had eased her feelings of guilt, but she knew that if she had finished the job properly a great deal of pain would have been avoided.

    She looked over where Greer was pointing. "It does look like he's got the markings there. But what do you think he's doing here? What did this guy ever do to make the Sentry so angry with him?"

    Monica, who had come by in the meantime and was standing in the doorway, said "My guess is it has to do with what Jess said. He wants to be an Avenger, and just a little while ago he was told that he had to stay away for a while. It could be he's trying to make himself seem more useful than before, and taking down a bad guy is normally the sort of thing that makes you look good. Although why he would choose Master Pandemonium of all people baffles me. I'd have gone and picked one of the big guns like Doctor Doom or someone like that."

    "It's the kids, I bet. From what Anna's told us she thinks the Sentry's got it in for Tommy and Billy in some way. So let's put the pieces together." Misty got up to her feet. "How is it that Master Pandemonium would go and pick out two children as being part of the soul he was missing? Even if you go and assume he knew the twins were conceived via magic, then what would make you go and think demons played a role in that? Now if I'm going to find demons somewhere, I'd be looking for people who either you know are hanging around with them or are the type to be doing that. Wanda and Vision? Who would pick them out of all the people in the world?"

    Greer was getting the picture as well. "So somewhere along the way these two met, and our friend Robert told him that he knew how he could get the souls he wanted. And he goes in, and tries to take them back... but he can't do that, because they aren't just souls you can take back. The boys are just normal children. Or at least as normal as you can be given how they were born. I don't know whether or not it was the effort at trying to absorb Billy and Tommy itself that caused them to vanish or if it had something to do with powers they might have, but just having them vanish wasn't part of the plan."

    "And then Robert doesn't think about them for years, because as far as he knows they're both dead. Or just out of his sight."

    Monica, glancing around, then said "Guys, we should just go and take something from the body and get out of here. I don't want to be in the line of fire right now, not before we have a real plan."

    "Did you see anything else that might have helped us out?"

    "No. Other than the corpse in the bedroom, that is. This is the most disgustingly ordinary home I have ever seen. I kept thinking that at any minute now I was going to walk into a room filled with portraits of his dogs or macaroni collages or just  _something_ that makes you think a person lives here. It ties in a lot with what I've heard about him. None of the current Avengers can tell us any personal details about what the Sentry is like. Steve knew his name, but he never really joined in and meshed with everyone. When I first came on if there was some kind of event I could go to I was halfway out the door the minute you mentioned it. Part of my job was to fit in with all the other Avengers, and I did it. This guy? He wants to be alone. Being an Avenger isn't really his endgame, or he'd be becoming part of us."

    "And he's escalating," Greer had to say. "Whatever he had against Billy and Tommy, it wasn't enough to get him personally involved. He sent someone else to do his dirty work. When he did have a chance to go and take down someone not too long ago, he held back from attacking Anna even though he had her cornered. He's managed to kill now. And he's going to find it easier to do it again and again."

    "Not even just killed. He had him torn to shreds. If the Sentry felt somewhat guilty about what he did he wouldn't have just taken off and left this guy here. He might have been able to argue that it was self-defense, and with Master Pandemonium being a villain we could have bought that for a little bit. I wonder where on earth he's gone." Misty went and took a clump of hair from what remained. "This should be enough for us to confirm if you're right about who he is."

    "I'll go and take it back." Monica took the hair, and vanished.

    Greer and Misty made their way out the door. She wondered "Do you think we should try and notify someone about a disturbance here?"

    "Yeah. The police need to know. Not you or me, but I know we can find someone back at headquarters who's willing to say they heard something from this home. Having the force at our backs as well gives us a boost."

    "And it's going to let him know that there's no going back from that point. There might be a chance that he thinks he'll just come back and everything is going to be the same as it was. A murder investigation that's coming from your home isn't the sort of thing that can be brushed off."

    Misty nodded. "The only part that doesn't fit in is the whole kid thing. We've pretty much established that the Sentry wants to get other Avengers out of the way. Then why would your first thing be to go after the kids of two team members? Knock them out, sure. But not the kids." She paused. "That was around the time that Vision was attacked, wasn't it? Do you think he had something to do with that as well?"

    When she thought about what had happened then, Greer wasn't confident she could point fingers at the Sentry. Vision  _had_ done things during his tenure as leader that had been deeply harmful, and unlike the story given for what happened to Billy and Tommy there was a good deal of internal consistency in the telling. But then again, how come it had taken so long for anyone to do anything to him? "I wish I could say one way or another. Unless we get a confession, I'm not ruling out anything."

    Misty gave a terse nod, and said "When we get back I'm going to make sure Jess is on guard. The Sentry may only have a grudge against Wanda's kids, but if he's going for a broader scope then she's the only one I know of who's going to have a child soon." She smiled as she said the next part. "Maybe I can get her to tell me what she's going to call her. Danny and I keep pestering them to let it slip, and all we get is 'You'll see when she's born.'"

    It was a nice touch of light in an otherwise dark time. "Hope you can get them to let something out. I'll do my part by having everyone else start bugging her and Luke." The Avengers that Jan hadn't first wanted to work with due to how well-known they were had almost all shown up at the tower. The only ones who were missing were Wendell and Starfox, due to both being too far away in space to make it on time. But they were both heading back as fast as they could. The only other absence Greer knew of was Crystal, which struck her as being odd. She didn't bother to ask questions due to how much else was happening, but vowed that if she ran into Pietro she would see if he knew the reason.

    With a glance back to the so unassuming home, Greer went forward.

* * *

 

    Wanda had enjoyed catching up with her brother for the first time in so long. The sadness in his face as he spoke about his concern for her as well as Crystal's new plans wasn't what she had wished to see, but Pietro made up for some of that by talking in great detail about how he was planning to arrange his life now that Luna was a more permanent part of it. "When this is done we have to plan to have her meet her cousins again. She was so happy to hear about how you and Vision found them again."

    "I wouldn't have doubted that for a second. It's so good to see you again."

    "I know. I never would have thought you would have found the allies you did. Bonita was a surprise, but Philip and Magdalene? Who would have picked them out of all the heroes in the world?"

    Wanda was going to say exactly who she thought it was, but before she could speak a familiar form appeared at Pietro's side. "Agatha?" she whispered.

    Her mentor's words were firm and clear. "You must return home. The time has come." And she was gone.

    Return home? Where? Philip had said when they had been directed to search, it had been "the ruins", although the mansion wouldn't have qualified as home for him and Magdalene the way it had for her. And if she were to be honest with herself, the mansion wasn't home for her any longer as well. Agatha clearly had something in mind by telling her this. What was it?

    Then the answer came to her. "Pietro, I need to leave, now."

    He was stunned. "Why? Where are you going?"

    "I need to go back to my home. I think that Robert has something on his mind, and I can only stop him if I am there. Please, for everyone's sake don't follow me. I think this is something that I need to do on my own."

    It was a sign of Pietro's maturity that he did not go and try to force Wanda to take him along. "What should I tell everyone?"

    "Just what I told you. The ones who need to know will understand what I mean."

    He shook his head. "You know that once Vision realizes you're gone he's going to go after you."

    "Yes, but I can at least get a head start. If I don't come back from this please go and tell Billy and Tommy their mommy loves them."

    He reached out and embraced her. "I will, if I must. But I know it won't."

    She wanted to share his confidence, but only could say "Goodbye, Pietro."

* * *

 

    The home in Leonia felt eerie to be entering after having been gone for so long. The last time Wanda had been inside it had been shortly before they were all leaving for California, and that time had been filled with frantic activity common to those who are moving. Following her tragedies, she'd not wanted to think very much about her old home and refrained from putting it on the market. Being an Avenger helped with that, since while on active duty her housing was taken care of and the money you got from being on the team was more than enough to cover her expenses. Wanda had just paid the taxes and fees on the property without a second thought. She knew she was never coming back.

    Standing in the hallway, all of the good times she and Vision had within the walls came flooding back. The place was clearly in need of a major clean-up, but Wanda was feeling up to the task for the first time in so long. This was her home, and there was no reason to stay away any longer. In her mind she could see the flowers growing, the repairs having been done, and Vision and her having a place of their own once more. She doubted these feelings were the reason Agatha had asked her to come here but they still gave her a sense of purpose.

    "So. At last we meet."

    She knew who the man speaking was before she saw him. Following Steve's visit, Wanda had looked for whatever information she could find about the Sentry. There wasn't much. Most of the articles concerning him only spoke of all he had done as an Avenger combined with a few photos. Turning her head, Wanda said "Hello, Robert."

    He chuckled. "Robert. Such a funny name. It's not really mine, not anymore. I've made a few changes over the years. Including my name. So how much do you know?"

    "Enough to know about the harm you've caused. You've lashed out at children, attacked us in numerous ways, and you've broken pieces out of the minds of those I call friend. I will no longer stand for it."

    The same laugh. "The first two were necessary, not that you'd understand. But the last part I claim innocence on. If I could ruin someone's mind, I would have done that to every single member of the Avengers until only I remained." The Sentry raised an eyebrow. "So who is it?"

    "I saw what you did to Stephen. I've never seen him in such a state of despair." Her voice shook slightly as she spoke. Wanda wanted more than anything to believe the Sentry had caused what she had seen with Stephen that night, but her heart was telling her that it was not the case.

    The laughter that greeted her words was far stronger than before. "Oh, so you saw that mess of a man? If I could have done that I would have made things far worse. He did everything to himself with his own weakness of mind and the alcohol that he loves so much. My dear Wanda, Stephen needed no help from me to do anything."

    She forced herself not to react. When she was done here she would go and do her best to try and help her friend, but the man before her was by far the greater problem now. "I have a great deal of questions for you. Why did you have everyone blame me for the destruction you caused?"

    "I will say I had no plans of doing so at first. Believe it or not, I bear you no personal ill-will. If you hadn't been with Iron Man that day I doubt I would have gone with something so dramatic. I always planned to have his weakness put forward to the public, so they would remember what sort of man they were dealing with. You being there was just a stroke of bad luck on your part." Robert shrugged. "I wish you had just gone and left after I made the Wasp mention your family. It would have been easier for all of us then."

    "Then why couldn't you just go and make me leave directly? I know that you can make people forget about things. That was why no one could recall me remembering my children, wasn't it?"

    "You're a mutant and a magic-user. For some reason, I can't make the minds of people who belong to either one of those groups go as I wish. If I try doing so it never turns out the way I wish things to be. Although I should have known better from what happened with Ant-Man. Even losing his child by remaining on the team still didn't stop him. Perhaps I should have made certain he was dead instead of just going and leaving him too small to count."

    Wanda wondered if it was a good idea to keep Robert talking. She was planning to strike the minute he showed any signs of lashing out at her. He did seem to be glad to finally be able to say all of this. "So why did you want me and Scott gone in the first place? Or Tony, for that matter?"

    The look on his face indicated he thought she was foolish for even asking the question. "You still don't know? Because it is my place in the world to lead, to be the one everyone will look up to. I tried to do so via ordinary methods, but all the others who were heroes kept getting in my way. Joining the Avengers helped me to accomplish my goals, and if I hadn't made the last team fall apart then I never would have done so. I must thank you for saving Hawkeye's life, by the way. Having at least one of the big guns on the roster made it even easier to formulate tension between Tony and the others. It was harder working on someone with such a weak mind than I thought it would be. He even looked into reasons for your madness, you know."

     A feeling of pride that Tony had still thought of her was only part of what Wanda was feeling now. Robert's goals were not what she had thought they might be. On some level he wanted to be a hero, and to make a difference. If only he had gone and tried to stand out the way all of the other lesser-known Avengers had, then they might be telling a different story. "So heroic, going after an innocent woman and two children. That's certainly going to help your case there."

    Anger flashed in his eyes. "Do you think that I wanted to go and harm your children? If I hadn't been told that the children of the Vision and Scarlet Witch would be my downfall then your brats would have been fine. I still wonder why my servant couldn't properly carry out the mission I gave him. The dammed witch, I bet. I never should have brought her spirit to the world of the living. She wouldn't go back, no matter how much I tried forcing her. She spoke the words I needed. There was no place for her here."

    The words confirmed beyond a shadow of doubt that Agatha was dead. From what she was hearing now, she had been dead ever since the boys had been conceived, when Wanda had gotten that last message. There was a trace of sorrow there but for now she pushed it aside. "You know that you ended up spelling out your fate by having Billy and Tommy attacked."

    Robert did not understand. "I did what I had to do to stop the threat. Or I would have if Master Pandemonium had taken them out like he should have. When he succeeded in 'absorbing' them I should have realized things did not go according to plan. He paid for that recently, of course."

     Wanda shook her head in disbelief. "But there wasn't a threat until you went for them. Do you really think that somehow I was going to find out who you were if you left me alone? My children are to still be your undoing, because if you hadn't gone for them we never would have learned the man you really are. Imagine, we might even have welcomed you to our ranks."

    Moving from confusion to anger in rapid form, Robert said "It doesn't matter! I can remake the world to whatever I wish! I could create a place where you never met your 'husband', and then work your role to nothing! There is nothing I am not capable of!"

    "I find that very hard to believe."

    Both parties turned to look at the new voice chiming in. Vision was standing back from both of them, and he made his way to Wanda's side. Robert only sighed. "Are we going to go through this again? Why must you keep going after this woman? I'm going to make everyone think she was personally responsible for your past destruction, and tear any shreds of emotion you might have once felt out of your soul. Soon no one will even think of you as being together."

    Vision shook his head. "Your powers do not have the range you think they do. If you could do anything then you would have made certain all of the Avengers did not live through your attack on us. And there is no force in the universe that would ever be able to make me forget about how much I love my wife and sons. That is a force far beyond whatever you wield."

    Having her husband follow her here was only a surprise in how long it had taken. Pietro was not going to lie about what she had said to him, and Vision had been sure to follow once he knew she was in danger. Wanda suspected the others were going to be coming in fairly short order. "And you need to think about what the forces you are using are doing to your mind and soul. Look back to where you began. Can you see the person you were then doing what you do now?"

    "I may have changed, but any changes I have made are for the better. Look at everything I've done for the city, the battles I've won. Are those not positive accomplishments? Am I not working to make the world safer for all?" In yet another change of mood he added "And besides, it may be a change in that now I've gone and been forced to end someone's life, but he needed to understand that he had failed me so badly. And who would say he didn't get what was coming to him?"

    The person Robert was talking about killing Wanda suspected was Master Pandemonium. Part of her didn't feel all that badly about his loss, but what it said about the Sentry was not good. He had held back from striking a blow against Anna before. But from what she knew, after having crossed over the barrier once and made the choice to end another's life made it easier to do so again. It was one of the reasons most heroes tried to avoid killing their enemies whenever they could. "Even if he deserved it, who says that you should be the one who makes that judgment?"

    "Who cares? Before too long I will be the most important hero in the entire world. This time, I'll make sure everyone thinks that you've killed far more than just two people. Or one person and a machine. That's going to be a lot harder to come back from, don't you think?" The shadows Wanda remembered from Bonita's gathered around him.

    And as soon as they appeared, two blasts were fired at them. "These things again? Didn't you learn your lesson from the last time?" Bonita was now joining them, and standing with her were Philip and Magdalene who's lance had fired the second blast.

    "So, Firebird comes back. I wouldn't thought of you as much as I should have. Well, that's not a mistake I'm going to be making again." He blinked as he looked at the others. "Who the hell are you?"

    "See, that really where your biggest mistake is coming through. I'm the Swordsman, and this is Magdalene. It would have done you good to remember us, because we never believed the story you tried to sell us about Wanda. So we looked into things. And from there we met Simon and started to find people who could tell a very different story than the one you wanted everyone to think. Too bad you didn't think of a couple of lesser heroes, huh?" Philip sounded proud of finally being able to stand up to the man who had caused their team such misery.

    Robert took a few steps back, his eyes darting about. "So that was why Simon was poking around. At least I was able to wipe his mind again. Isn't it nice I've been looking out for him since you were taken apart? Can't have the brother or uncle trying to figure out why no one cares about a lost teammate or children."

    Vision inhaled, and his hands were balled into fists. "It wasn't enough for you to take my children from me? You had to ruin my relationship with my brother as well?"

    "It wasn't like you cared at the time. Or that you really could count him as being your brother. Maybe one day your father will give you an actual sibling. And since you're not going to make it out to talk with him about anything, then who cares?"

    There was a loud crash. It was the arrival of all the other lesser Avengers that Jan had gathered, with War Machine among them. In a rush Walter said "We came as soon as we could. It looked too dangerous to all go after Vision together."

    Robert still seemed indifferent to the forces going against him. "Seriously? Stingray? That's the kind of person who's going to take me down? Who in the world is going to think about you when you think of a hero? And the second-rate Iron Man? It will make things more fun, at the very least."

    "And that's where you are wrong, again." The face of the War Machine armor was pulled back to reveal a very satisfied Tony Stark. "Hoping that I can avoid you doing too much damage here. Rhodey has sworn that he will rip my head off if I leave even the slightest scratch on his baby here."

    Walter added for his own part "It doesn't matter what people think of me. I didn't get into this business so that I'd get attention. What matters to me is being able to make a difference, to help people. What do you hope to get out of this?"

    "I will be the chief among heroes! Everyone will know my name!" His voice was becoming almost too hysterical to be understood.

    "Everyone, now! Take him down!" Steve Rodgers's voice rang out through the home. And as soon as he spoke there was a flurry of activity, with past enemies as well as new threats coming out as fast as they could. And just as quickly they were able to respond to them, unlike before.

    During their past encounter at the mansion, the Sentry had the advantage of surprise. But this time he had overplayed his hand. Knowing that anything could happen made it easier to deal with when anything  _did_ happen, and the bonus of having the whole team together at the start of things made coordination even easier. Throughout the attack there were several groups that remained together, and if it was needed the groups shifted around. As Robert kept throwing something different at them, he yelled "None of this will stop me! Inevitably you will falter, and then I will be left as the only Avenger! My goals will not be denied!"

    Monica looked at him and said "But you've already failed at your goals. You have to know that by now. Do you really think that you're going to get away with what you did to Master Pandemonium even if none of us come out of here alive?"

    "I can make the police forget the man even existed. It means nothing."

    Bonita responded "And that's why you don't get it. You can eliminate everyone who knows the truth about you, and you can put yourself out as being the ideal everyone should emulate. But you know deep down it isn't true. No matter what happens, you're never going to be a hero. You didn't have what it took from the start, and whatever you do to change the world isn't going to make a single bit of difference in the end."

* * *

 

    The Sentry wanted to deny the words of both Photon and Firebird. What did it matter if he had to change everything to get what he wanted? As long as the goal was reached, did it matter how it came about?

    But as he looked over the forces allied against him, he only saw a determination to fight back. His most stalwart ally Steve was standing his ground against all he saw. The others he had fought alongside did not look to be giving up, and Luke said as he caught a glimpse of his eyes "Even if we go down here, that won't be the end. There isn't going to be a group of heroes anywhere who won't be working to stop you. You can't stand here thinking that you're going to win."

    And for the first time in years the Sentry was able to fully examine what he had done. If he had not gone and focused so much on how he could be the chief of all heroes that he had forgotten that there was more than one way to get what you wanted. He had gone and lashed out at children due to a sentence telling him they would be his undoing without thinking about what such a thing might really mean. He had acted to make things work in his favor while deluding himself into thinking that he was being virtuous. He had even watched a man fall apart mentally and only thought that a threat was being eliminated.

    Try as he might, Robert could come to no other conclusion: he was not and never would be a hero. Perhaps it had come about some point after he had started to enact his plan for success. It could have been a reflection of something within him, or it might have come from the forces he was using to make himself better. What it was might never be known.

    Robert did know one thing, however. He had the power to remedy things. Drawing within his soul, he reached for more power than he had ever used before.

    This time it was different. There was a brilliant explosion of light that came from inside him, and as he reached more the light grew in intensity. Robert reached out for the tendrils of changes he had made to the world, unraveling each one step by step. There was something screaming in his ear to leave everything as it was, but he pushed aside those words.

    Each reversion made the next one a little more challenging to reverse. Robert briefly wondered if he should have done more to figure out where exactly he was getting these special powers before, but knew it was too late for regrets. As the final changes were undone, he knew that there wasn't much time left.

    With all his might he reached into himself to undo not only what he had given himself but also whatever it was that allowed him to make the changes. There was an aura of danger in the air, and Robert knew that he was in trouble by even thinking about what he was doing. He pushed forward regardless.

    As he pushed forward, he could see the witch smiling at him. Robert did not feel that she was mocking him as he would have before. For the first time her look was one of approval.

    Reaching in for the final grasp, Robert Reynolds began to undo what was within him.

* * *

 

    The flash of light had come with enough force to knock Bonita off her feet. She hoped that this wasn't some new attack against them, because she was starting to feel exhaustion from having done so much in such a brief period of time.  _I suppose there are worse ways to go out,_ she thought.

    The light lingered for a moment or so, and then slowly began to fade away. She could see the other Avengers getting on their feet, but did not see the Sentry for several moments.

    "So what just happened?" she heard Miguel saying. "Did he get away?"

    There was the sound of laughter coming from a corner nearby. "All gone.. all gone. I did it, yes. Threads gone away, no darkness left to play. Robert's back, indeed."

    She could now see the Sentry chuckling to himself. He was no longer wearing his costume, and he kept repeating words of nonsense to himself.

    Wanda was the one who went over to him, and after a brief examination said "It's gone. The magic he was using has been taken from him."

    Bonita could now see what had happened clearly. The Sentry had taken her and Monica's words to heart, and had gone and removed his powers from himself - but at the cost of his own mind. 

 


	29. Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Picking up the pieces after the battle is over.

    It was over. Tony could breathe a sigh of relief for now. He slowly made his move over to where Robert was sitting and mumbling, and thought about what they should do next.

    Steve said "We need to get someone over here that can take care of him."

    Greer answered "I'm just going to get the police. They already want to speak to him about the death of Martin Preston, so that'll take something off our shoulders."

    Putting everything in the hands of law enforcement didn't feel all that great for him. "Do you think we should tell them the whole truth?"

    "Wait. I want to see if Robert ends up having his wits come back to him at any point soon. Then we can see what's going to happen in regards to the investigation. We shouldn't go and put ourselves too much out there unless we need to do so in order to get justice."

    It made sense to Tony. "At least someone should stick around until we can give Robert over to the right people."

    "That would be me." Steve was his usual self, always being the first to volunteer for any task.

    "So what about the rest of us?" asked Bonita. "Where should we go?"

     "Well, there are two options here. The first one is to come back to the tower with the current team, where I'd like to have anyone who wants to stay there until we can make some major decisions about the team. Second, if that doesn't appeal to you I'm willing to provide an all-expenses paid stay at any hotel of your choice. Rhodey, can you go and dig into the compartment I've got under my right arm?"

    Rhodey went and started to look through the area Tony had directed him to look at. "Seriously? You've got a place in this thing for a credit card? Remind me to never take advice from you when you start trying to give me ideas on how to make my suit better." He gave him a few looks, most likely trying to see if the vow Tony had given him when they had decided to switch armors had been broken.

    "Hey, if I need it once it's worth it." He did not look in the direction of Wanda or Vision as he took the card from Rhodey. "Say the magic words and I'll take care of you."

    "I believe that we will be taking you up on that offer," said Vision in a quiet tone.

     He tossed the card over. "Say no more. I'll have someone go and take the kids over to wherever it is you end up staying. Go off and have fun." He gave everyone else a quick run-down. "So does anyone else want to go with them?"

    Magdalene shook her head. "I think this is the first time we've ever been invited to a major Avengers thing, except for the Christmas celebration. Let's go!"

     All of the other Avengers there agreed with Magdalene. Tony started to give some thought to where he could put all the new faces. Even if they needed to double up, it was going to be worth it to keep everyone around.

    Rhodey pulled him aside as they began to leave. "How are you going to know where to send Billy and Tommy? I don't think their parents are going to be giving you a call."

    "I've got the card flagged so I can get a notification whenever it's used. I'll see where Vision and Wanda are staying then." He did feel a bit surprised to see Pietro still there. "Do you want to go elsewhere as well? I can make arrangements for that."

    "I'll be going to the tower with you after I go get Luna. She's probably worried about where I am now. My sister needs to spend some time alone with her family for now."

    There was nothing in his tone showing anger, which still caught Tony off guard. With how they'd treated Wanda he would have thought Pietro would never forgive them. It had to be taking care of his daughter that made the difference. "Of course you go get her. I'll be looking forward to that." He hoped he could also ask a few questions about why Luna was living on Earth now. Tony had a feeling that Crystal's absence from the team right now played a part in that.

    Still struggling with what was going to be the best course of action from here on, Tony flew off into the night with Rhodey at his side.

* * *

 

    The first place Tony went to upon getting back wasn't his room or one of the main rooms, but instead the room of Anna. He could hear the sounds of the TV in the background, and her voice saying "Oh! Look before you leap!"

    Anna hadn't ever really gotten a chance to watch TV before now. She'd explained this at first being the result of not knowing how long she might be staying on Earth. "And then there might be the chance of getting interrupted in the middle of something. Then I'll never find out how it ends." She'd apologized to Tony for sounding so silly, but he'd told her that her feelings weren't silly at all. Anna wouldn't have been seen by anyone as being a TV addict, but she did enjoy tuning into  _Wheel of Fortune_ every night.

    Knocking on the door, Tony said "Anna? It's me."

    "Tony! How are you? I was so worried about you when you said you were going to be facing Robert. I guess things must have gone well, or else you wouldn't be coming back here."

    "Well, I can now say this: Robert Reynolds is no longer going to be a threat to you or to anyone else. Is Teddy around?"

    Anna answered the question with "I put him to bed a little early. He was getting tired." She asked "When you say he isn't a threat any more, do you mean that he's dead or something else?"

    "Something else. According to what Wanda said his powers are gone from him, and I'm not sure that if he did still have them he would be able to use them properly." He changed topics somewhat. "Anyway, almost everyone's coming back over here, except Vision and Wanda. I'm going to get Billy and Tommy as soon as I'm done here and send them to their parents at long last."

    Anna nodded. "It will be good for them to spend some time together. Where are they staying?"

    "A hotel I'm paying for. You can understand why Wanda in particular might not feel too kindly towards the Avengers right now." It burned a bit for Tony to say it despite his words to Steve earlier.

    "I hope that she's able to deal with what she's feeling soon. You've been such good teammates for so long. I think if I were in her shoes I would try to forgive the people I'd trusted for so long."

    Her words reflected her kind personality, and Tony wished that he could feel the same way. "Anyhow, I was coming here to let you know that we're going to be having a lot of guests for the next few days or so, and that there's going to be some gathering tonight. If you don't want to come and hang around it's fine. In that case I'm going to come back with someone who's got a few things to talk to you about."

    She pondered the issue for a moment. "Who's here now?"

    "Rhodey and Monica have already gotten here, and I think we're going to have Sam and Carol come in soon enough. Pietro had to go and get his daughter before coming back, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him here when we're done." He doubted Anna was going to want to spend all that much time with the Avengers. She seemed comfortable with some of them, but still shied away from larger crowds.

    "Pietro... I think I'd like to speak with him, if he's here now. Do you have any idea of when it would be a good time for Teddy and I to go back home?"

    "That's one of the things we need to talk about. But don't worry. I'm pretty sure you will be able to go back at some point." He wanted to keep things vague so Anna wouldn't feel too alarmed.

    "That's fine." And Anna left her room and followed Tony.

    As he had thought he might be, Pietro was in fact waiting with Luna in the main room. Looking over with a smile, he said "You must be Anna. Wanda told me about you. I'm Pietro. This is Luna. I've got a few things I'd like to ask you about my nephews."

    She gave him a brief smile and said "I'll try to answer whatever you ask me. I'm sorry it took so long to resolve things."

    "It may have taken too long, but I'm glad that things were set right in the end. How have you been since coming here?"

    "I'm better now that I know at least one source of danger is gone. I still don't know what I'm going to do in regards to Teddy and I setting up our lives here. By now I don't think I'll ever be able to go back home, and I can't stay under the radar here forever."

    "That's what Tony and I would like to talk to you about," came the voice of Jen Walters. "Is there anywhere you'd feel most comfortable going so we can have that conversation?"

    Anna looked away, not knowing what to make of the new arrival. Tony in this case wouldn't have been shocked by anyone feeling the same way. Jen was the type of person you would feel a bit intimidated by unless you were familiar with her easygoing nature, if only due to the associations people made between her and her cousin. "My room," was her answer.

    "Then just show me the way there."

    Inside, Anna sat down on her bed. Tony chose to say part of what needed to be said first. "Okay, I'm going to go over a bit what I've been talking about with my lawyers. What you've been saying about how things are for you and Teddy, that's pretty accurate. Right now the two of you are in the country illegally, and without any kind of documentation you aren't going to be able to get a job or to enroll him in school when the time comes. And unless we can go with the plan we're going to be talking about with you, that's not going to change any time soon."

    She sighed. "I know that I should have done something about this years ago, but I was afraid of what might happen if I did go and speak to you. This is all on me."

    "Not really. Things wouldn't have been all that much different if you went and came to us shortly after you got here." He did wonder about one thing. "How was it you were able to get the home you're living in without having anything?"

    “Anelle gave us a sum of money to tide us over, and I was able to give some of it to a friend who has a couple of established identities on Earth. She was able to get us the home, and I know that it's still in her name.” Anna added “She was also able to give us money for a little while, but that dried up. We've been mostly making due with our savings. But they're almost all gone now.”

    Tony waved his hand. “Don't worry about the money thing. What matters more is what I've been talking about with my lawyers. They've heard all about what brought you and Teddy here, and they think there's a solution to your problems. Jen, you mind explaining everything to Anna?”

    “Here it goes: based on everything that you've told us, both you and Teddy are in significant danger of harm if you end up returning to the Skrull home, right? Now that isn't going to make what you did in staying here legally acceptable, but it does mean that you have an excellent chance of being able to apply for political asylum here. You would both be considered refugees, and could become citizens within a fairly short period of time.”

    It must have sounded too good to be true for Anna. “But what about the time we've already been here? Would we be able to stay in our home while they listen to our case?”

    “Normally there are places where people claiming asylum are kept until their cases are decided. What I hope can happen here is that the Avengers can take some level of control here and say that you staying where you are is the best place right now, due to the danger you may be in. Otherworldly threats aren't something the government likes to directly deal with, so we can take a bigger role here than we would otherwise. My specialty isn't immigration law, so I could be wrong about that however. I'd like to remain optimistic here, though.”

    She pondered what was being said. “So Teddy and I could live here as long as we like if we won in court. Would they try and go after my friend? She's also not here legitimately. I don't want to get her into any trouble.”

    Tony had an idea of who Anna's friend might be, based on who she might trust and who would have also been in a position around the time they got here to help out. “Trust me, they won't care about her unless you bring her up.”

    “Would there be anything else that I would need to do?”

   Jen said “Besides meet with your attorneys and file some paperwork? That would be it. There would be only one other major thing that might be a problem for you. If you were successful in getting asylum here, then you won't be able to go back to your home to live, ever. That would be true even if the situation changed enough to make it safe for you to come back. Did you leave behind any family there?”

    “No. I was alone. After we lost our homeworld, my parents had died and I didn't have any siblings to help. I think that was the reason that Anelle looked to me to help with Teddy. She knew I wasn't going to look back if we needed to go.”

    “What kind of work did you do in your home, by the way?”

     “I sold homes. Not really exciting, but it was always dependable. I wanted a bit of a change after losing everything and that was what led me to helping with Teddy. Didn't know all that much about children, but I ended up being a fast learner!” She laughed.

    “That's good, in a way. Having nothing to go back to makes it a bit easier if you do choose to try and gain refugee status. How do you feel about that?”

    Anna didn't answer for a while. When she did speak, she said “It was only a little while ago that I started to realize that the chances of me going home weren't all that good. It wasn't as hard to deal with as I first thought it was going to be. When you live for a long enough time in a different place than you used to, you have to adapt in some manner. Because of how I got here I haven't been able to really experience all this world has to offer. And I want to see all of that.”

    That settled it. “Then I'm going to go and speak to some of the best lawyers I know of who specialize in the field of immigration law. They should be coming to speak to you in a day or so. Until then, it would be better for you and Teddy to stay in the tower. There's a chance that the authorities are going to want to keep a closer eye on you, and in that case the best option is going to be having the team take a more direct role in that supervision.”

    Tony added "There's also a few things that we need to take care of at your place. When Rhodey went to get your things he saw the place had been torn up a bit. I'd like to make sure that everything's normal before you head back. With everything else that we had going on I thought it really wasn't the time to mention it, but I'll be sure to send someone over to clean up the place before you go back."

    Jen said "And I also think that it would be a good idea for us to start working on getting adoption papers ready for Teddy. We can't put any type of petition before the court until we've been able to settle your case, but I think that if you can show the evidence that you will be making things permanent in regards to his care you'll come off better. I'm sure that it would make Teddy feel better as well. What if he starts worrying about his mother's family coming back to get him one day?"

    "I understand why you're telling me this, but until I get some kind of proof that Anelle is gone I don't want to think about that yet. I think it's time for me to ask my friend if she can find out anything." She stood up. "Would you mind if I went and spoke to Rebecca? She must be out of her mind with worry since we left."

    "Go ahead. I think we've pretty much covered whatever we needed to say here. I need to go and get the twins together, anyhow."

    Tony and Jen both left, and were met by Clint shortly thereafter. "Just wanted to tell you, Tony, that Steve has called for a meeting of everyone who is on the team right now as soon as he gets back. So be prepared."

    He had an idea of what they were going to be discussing. "I just need to send Tommy and Billy off and then I'll be there."

    "See you then," was the answer given.

    Tony did ask Jen "Were to being honest with Anna when you said how good her chances were of being accepted as a refugee were?"

     "I was a little more optimistic than I think was warranted, but she needed that. I feel so bad for her, with how she's been looking over her shoulder for years and wondering how she could get by. And that doesn't even take into account her finding the twins. And I do know that if her request for asylum is turned down then we will take her in and declare Anna and Teddy under our protection."

    It made sense. "So, are you going to speak with anyone about her case?"

    "Tomorrow, yes. Given how long a hearing like that can take it's better to get it done as quickly as we can. For now I'm just going to relax for a while."

     "Wish I could do the same, but there's still so much on the table right now. See you later, Jen."

* * *

 

    Tony was slightly late to the planned meeting, since he had to wait longer than he thought to get the notification about his card being used. The kids had been happy about going to be with their parents again, and Tommy had asked "Are we going to stay with Mommy and Daddy forever now?"

     "I think that's what's going to happen from now on. Have a great time. I hope you guys come back to see us real soon." He doubted that with all his heart, but put on a smile as Tommy and his brother headed off.

    Steve looked to be heading things up. He was clearly tired from their earlier fight and what had become of the Sentry. Jessica, Luke, Peter, Clint, and Rhodey (to the surprise of Tony) were all waiting for him to come in. Steve glanced over and said "Nice to see you."

    "Sorry I was late. How did things go with Robert?"

     "The police are planning on trying to speak with him about the death of Martin Preston. But they don't think they're going to get much. When I last saw him he still couldn't string together two thoughts in some way that makes sense." He sighed. "So let's get started here. Obviously, we have an opening on the team. I don't think that anyone is going to disagree with me when I say that War Machine has earned that open spot. He's worked with us for a few weeks now and has fit in so well that I would feel guilty if we went and tried to get another person here."

    "And by now I realize I want to be here. It doesn't matter how long you've been away from the business, once you've gone and become a hero there's no going back." Tony was glad to see the look of joy on his best friend's face. He weighed whether or not he should share his own decision in regards to the team now.

    "But there's more here. Given what happened to get us here, I don't know if the current roster is the one we should stick with. If everyone wants to stay then there's no problem, but I can't tell if that's going to happen. How many of you did I go for because the Sentry suggested it? If I'd gone for one of his more far-fetched ideas..." Steve trailed off, and Tony wonder who had almost come to join them.

    Jessica spoke out first. "It's not going to be that way, unfortunately. I've been thinking over the last few days about staying here, and now I can officially say I'm out. I can still remember talking about all the connections I had with our friend Bob once, and he was so glad to hear about it. I believe that's why he wanted me to join. Up until then I never really thought that much about being an Avenger. I've worked for organizations before, but never really as a hero. I like to be a bit independent. And the thought that I was put here for some sinister purpose doesn't sit well with me at all. I'd been out of the business for quite a while when I came in here. That alone should have made me wonder why I was the one you wanted. So as soon as you think it's a good time I'm going to hand in my resignation for the team."

    Steve did not seem happy to be hearing this. "Is there anything we could do to make things different? I've really been pleased with how you've been doing for us so far. After everything that happened before, it would feel like a shame to break up the team again."

    "No, there isn't. I understand why you don't feel that what we have right now should be broken apart, but remember how it all went down after we thought Wanda was doing all this? That was the time everyone needed the team the most. And no one thought twice before breaking up then. That plays into my other feelings. The reason the previous team was broken up was because the reminders of the past weren't something you wanted. I came in because I didn't have those ties, at least in part. So I can't help but feel like maybe bringing me on was because I'm not the kind of person who would become an Avenger."

    He could sense an undercurrent of truth in Jessica's words. Save for Clint, Steve and him had gone for people who weren't Avengers for a reason. What that said about them was one of the reasons he had come to the conclusion he did about his future. “I understand. I do hope that someday you might think to come back and join with us again on something or another.”

    That brightened Jessica's face to a certain degree. “That's definitely a possibility for the future. Don't think that I feel like I shouldn't ever be an Avenger ever again. There's probably going to be a day when I want do come back, but I don't know when that will be. Besides, I've already got what I think is a perfect replacement lined up.”

    Steve looked interested. “Who would that be?”

    “Firebird. She's said that she wants to get back into the swing of things, and if you look at all she's done over the last few weeks she's more than earned the right to join. Normally I'd want to have everyone else take their time and choose who best fits, but I do think Bonita's done as much as Rhodey has here.”

     Tony let Steve take the lead in reacting to Jessica's idea. “Since you know that you aren't going to be staying, I'll take your words into account. I'd be careful in guessing how Bonita's going to respond to being offered a place here. For all I know she's going to turn us down. But I am going to say this: all of the people we have on the team this time are going to come from the existing members. I'll try to see that even if we have no other slots open at least one lesser-known person will come aboard. It's better for all of us to make sure we look for people who might not otherwise get noticed.”

    Tony wasn't sure if doing something like that would be necessary. How many times had they been subject to an attack of the scope the Sentry had put them through? It wasn't wrong to decide that the leadership needed to look beyond the usual suspects when getting a new roster together, but if he was right and Steve was doing this out of a sense of guilt then it was going to backfire in the end.

    He did not voice his thoughts. He still wondered if they would be accepted.

    Luke was the next one to speak. “You don't need to worry about me. I'm staying here. I agree with Jessica in that my joining might have come about due to outside forces working against us, but that makes me feel more strongly about staying here. I can still remember when I started out, and how much it mattered to me that I get what was coming to me. The things that had happened that led me to becoming Power Man gave me a real sour view of the world, and it took a while before I could deal with it. All the people I worked with helped me to realize I didn't have to be that way forever. Don't get me wrong here,” he added. “I think that almost everyone would have some kind of response like I did if they went through the same things. That's just part of human nature. Being able to accept your less-perfect qualities is part of growing as a person. The important part is knowing what your good features are as well. I know what I can do as an Avenger, and I want to keep things that way.” He gave an amused smile as he added “Besides, now that I'm going for this whole starting a family thing I need a steady source of income. The Avengers pay well and have great benefits.”

    Steve laughed in turn. “We'll certainly be glad to have you. Clint? What do you want to do here?”

     Clint sighed. “I'm leaning in favor of going, but nothing's certain yet. I'd like to wait until we've gotten everyone else together and seen how we can move on from this. I keep thinking back to how Wanda saved my life during the first attack, but I still was sure she hated all of us enough to destroy us. I've known her for as long as anyone. The Sentry may have been playing on our feelings, but what if there was something inside me that made it easier to work with?”

    Tony had to speak out in his defense. “Look, you nearly died then. No one is going to blame you for not thinking straight afterwards. You didn't go and decide to lock up Wanda without trying to see if something else was happening. That's on me here. I was the one who didn't go and work to get the mansion back up, and if I'd done that we would have found Wanda's things earlier. This is not something you could have changed.”

    “Don't just say that it's all on you, Tony. You aren't the only person who's a leader here. I was the one who talked about how we might have to kill her to keep everyone safe. From what? Even if Wanda had done all those things then, she wasn't showing any signs of lashing out again. She could have been confined, had her powers dampered in some way. I'm not innocent in this matter.”

    He didn't want to hear Steve blame himself. Like Tony had said after their brief meeting with Wanda, he was used to people hating him by now. It still hurt, but he could typically see it coming. But when someone he admired so much also took the burden on his shoulders it just made things worse. The biggest problem was that Steve wasn't wrong. He hadn't cared to look deeper into what might have made a teammate turn on them so badly. Tony hated to think about how he had done more than Steve had done to find an answer to Wanda's seeming madness. It felt like some fundamental law of nature had been violated. He pushed back those feelings. “Do you think that you want to do something else, or do you just think that taking a break from the Avengers for a while might be enough?”

    “I'm still trying to think of what I should do here, so doing something else isn't on the table for me now. Depending on a few things I might have another idea, but until I hear one way or another I'll remain officially undecided. There's still a small chance I stay, but I don't think that's very likely.”

    He agreed. Clint knew his mind, and if he was saying that he didn't think he would stay then it was likely to be true. Tony wondered if Steve was going to put up as much of a fight as he had for Jessica. There were less personal feelings involved in Clint's decision, so he might not feel quite as badly for letting the man leave. “Do you have idea of who might be a good choice to replace you?”

    He snorted. “Unlike Jessica, I don't normally think that far ahead. Whoever comes up that seems like the best choice will do. If I did have the choice, I know who I'd pick. But they are almost certainly not coming back to us.”

    He was talking about either Wanda or Vision, since they were the ones that Tony could guess wouldn't come back. "That should work out. Peter, what's your stance right now?"

    "I'm entirely undecided. When you asked me to come on, I was pretty flattered. I've always been one for working alone, since that was the best thing for me in the beginning. But when two legends come to ask you to join the team, you jump at the chance. I can't say I haven't mostly enjoyed myself. But I do have to wonder about whether or not the Sentry played a role in getting me there. I'm sure he didn't know about the brief period of time when I actually was an Avenger, or he might have wanted me gone. I also think that he wasn't the only reason I ended up here. Wasn't I one of the first people you asked to come and join the new team?" That was true, based on what Tony could remember. "So overall I will say that being a member has been a positive experience, and that holds true even if the Sentry happened to be the only reason I got here. Yet I need to take some time to see what it is I want to do next. I'm going to be active in the business no matter what choice I end up making, but I do want to spend some time talking to MJ before I really start pondering my next moves. I'm thinking that if I decide to no longer be an active member, I'm going to ask to be on reserve status. That way I'll still be able to help out with whatever comes up. But nothing's sure yet."

    Peter's caution made sense. Jessica and Clint were essentially both on their own, with no other ties to influence their decisions. He had May and MJ to think of whenever he made a choice like that. His identity may not have been known publicly, but if his family spent too much time around the Avengers someone might make a connection. "We'll wait then," Steve answered. "Tony? What about you?"

    He didn't want to answer that question. How could he say the truth, that he was almost certain to be leaving the team before too long? Tony could no longer say he felt comfortable with being on the team given how he had been marginalized during much of the time they had worked together. Of course with Rhodey being there it would be a little different, but he was tired. The Sentry had clearly played a role in making things the way they had turned out to be but the overall impression wasn't good. He wondered if Wanda felt somewhat similar to him, although the way they had revealed their lack of trust was by far worse for her.

    The silence had to be getting to people, so Tony came out and said "I'd like to wait until some other things have been taken care of before I make a choice. The status of the mansion would be a big one here." He made sure to look at Steve as he went on. "I'd like to talk to you later on about that. Is that alright with you?"

    "That should be fine. We can talk tomorrow." He still looked disappointed at Tony's lack of commitment to the future. "As for myself, I feel like I have to stay here. Everything that happened here went on under my watch, and I have to work to make sure this never happens again. I did briefly consider resigning my position due to my failure, but that isn't really going to make things better. The only way to fix this is to keep moving forward."

    It was just like Steve to go on talking about duty to the team instead of what might work best for him. Tony knew that in his case part of the reason he did want to leave was the feelings of having failed Wanda as well as so many other people who had been overlooked when the new team was put together. He felt even more guilty about that desire now, seeing one of his closest friends still not willing to give up after he had been through so much. "Then we're almost all settled. Two for sure to stay, and one who's going. Anyone got anything else to say?"

    Jessica said "It was great being here, for whatever that's worth."

    "And it was great having you." Tony silently vowed to have some kind of going-away party for her just before she officially left the team.

    "We'll be meeting back here in a few days. If you're undecided and you figure out what you'd like to do before then just come and speak with me. We'll make arrangements then."

    Steve's words ended the meeting, and Tony went to leave as quickly as he could. Rhodey did not allow him to get too far, saying "Tony, can I ask you something?"

    "If you want." He was hoping this wouldn't be too hard a conversation to have.

    "You know the answer to whether or not you're going to stay already, don't you?"

    As always, his friend knew him better than anyone else did. "You're right. I just feel bad for having to say I'm not staying. It's just been too much with everything that happened. I feel like I've been shoved aside during any dispute we've had, and those feelings just don't go away. Feeling that way also is going to have an impact on how I deal with everyone else. I don't want my leadership to be compromised by my own personal feelings. Having some tension is one thing, but if this leads to me making a choice that ends in someone getting hurt then I don't know what I would do."

    Rhodey put his hand on Tony's shoulder, and responded with "I can't say that I don't feel bad about you leaving. I'd sure love to go out and take on the bad guys with you, but I see where you're coming from. The time I was here, I could see how bad things were starting to get. When do you think you're going to tell Steve?"

    "It depends. If I think that he's already suspecting the answer, then I'll tell him when we meet up tomorrow. Otherwise I'll wait until we're more settled. It's going to be a madhouse here for the next few days, until people start to go back." He was hoping that he could extend the visits for a little longer than that. Not all Avengers had been particularly close to him or to many others, but the mess with the Sentry did make Tony want to try a little harder to reach out to those on the edge. It was likely a manifestation of his guilty feelings, similar to Steve's desire to include less well known members on the roster. Maybe it was unhealthy to be doing so, although Tony had no idea what he could do to make it feel better.

    "Well, at least we can see more of each other now. Maybe you can still come and help us out from time to time. That okay with you?"

    "It would be the least I could do. I promise I'm going to stay long enough to get someone else fully settled into my spot."

    Tony began to think about what they were going to do with the mansion. His tower had been the best place for everyone while they were operating under the idea that a completely fresh start was needed, but part of what made the Avengers what they were was their base. The mansion was a home for all of them during a time when they needed it. It also was the center for any activities that were held, such as Christmas or the 4th of July gathering that also served as a birthday party for Steve. The memories flooded his brain as he walked alongside Rhodey.

    "Deep in thought, I see. Any world-shaking ideas going on in that genius head of yours?" If it had been anyone else saying something like that Tony might have thought they were either being half-serious or trying to pry some information out of him.

    "Just what's going to happen when we start rebuilding. Any construction workers are going to wonder why we didn't get in touch with them sooner, and who knows what else might have happened while we left the place a mess. I can pay for any of the expenses but even if all the money comes out of my own pocket it won't look good for the Avenger's bottom line." Having some manner of legal status could be as much of a headache as it was a blessing at times. With their status they always had to account for the money they spent, and if something unexpected came up then there could be a wave of hearings. And if those hearings somehow found out all of the trouble they had undergone in the last month and a half or so...

    His attention was drawn to the Lego mansion and Billy and Teddy had been working on earlier that day. Teddy had explained the story behind it to him. "The bad guys came and broke the whole place up, but now they're all gone. So the Avengers are working together to fix things!"

    He rubbed his chin, thinking about what that could mean for them. When he went and talked to Steve tomorrow, he could share his new idea for repairing things. "Together."

 


	30. Endgame

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The process of repairing is begun.

    If Wanda hadn't known exactly how much money Tony had to spare for even the most ridiculous things, she would have felt far more guilty about the upscale hotel she and Vision had checked into for the next few nights. They were in agreement about how they would be staying there "until we can think of what else to do," and she hoped it wouldn't be too long.

    True to his words, Tony had sent Billy and Tommy over not too long after they were checked in. Tommy said once he saw their rooms "This is really big. Is anybody else going to be here?"

    "Just us. Mommy and I thought we should have a chance to spend some time together by ourselves." Vision did say "We probably are going to have your Uncle Pietro and Luna come over for a visit pretty soon, though."

    "I saw Uncle Pietro when we were leaving. I said hi, but he didn't say anything. I don't think he saw us." Billy looked like he was thinking hard. "I hope that he's glad to see us too."

    "I know that he will be. He's told me that he wishes he got to spend time with you before you went away to Aunt Anna's." He hadn't voiced those thoughts very much to Wanda, because he knew how much she hurt from the loss even years later.

    "And I hope that we can also have your Uncle Simon come over soon. I will have to speak with him about when that can best happen."

    Wanda felt her heart began to sing. One of the things that had haunted her for years was how Vision and Simon had lost their once-fraternal bond following his destruction. It had been one of the biggest barriers towards her choosing to try and have a relationship with Simon, as she felt that doing so would ruin any chances for reconciliation. She wondered what had inspired Vision to change his mind.

     "Mommy? Daddy? Where are we going to stay now that we won't be living with Aunt Anna anymore?" Tommy sounded worried about what was going to happen next.

    Everything since Robert's attack had happened so fast that she had no time to go and tell Vision what she wanted to do. Wanda did know that Tony would be more than happy to give them a place to stay for as long as they needed, but she disliked taking too much advantage of his generosity.

    Vision was the one to offer a solution. "For a couple of days we will be staying here. After that, until we know what we're doing next, I think it will be a good idea to stay with your Grandma Martha. She is going to be so happy to see you again." He glanced at Wanda. "Have you had a chance to speak with Mother about anything yet?"

    "No. I couldn't take any chances by talking to someone who people might think I'd reach out to. I'm going to go and talk to her right now."

    "Can we say hi to her too?" asked Billy.

    "Yes, you can. But let me speak to her for a little while first."

    Hearing the first "Hello?" from Martha made Wanda wish she had gone and contacted her once she was staying with Anna and knew there were people on her side. Simon must have told her the details of everything that happened at the mansion and she must have been out of her mind with worry.

    "Martha? It's me, Wanda."

    She gasped. "Oh! I'm so glad to hear from you! Ever since Simon came to see me I've been hoping you were alright. I couldn't believe that they all blamed you for everything. After all you've done for the Avengers... Is everything alright now? Did they find whoever was doing this? Vision, is he okay?"

    "Yes and yes. Vizh wants to speak to you about some things in a little while. But first I have some other people who would like to talk to you." She handed the phone to Billy.

    His words were slow. "Hi, Grandma." Martha's cry of delight could be heard by all in the area. "I'm Billy. Tommy's here too. With Aunt Anna. She took care of us after the bad man came. Now we're going to stay with Mommy and Daddy forever." The next question was fairly clear to Wanda even if she couldn't hear it. "She couldn't tell anyone because she's not supposed to be here. She and Teddy had to run away from the planet they were on. Not really. She didn't have him like Mommy had us, but she's his Mommy. Uncle Tony says he's going to help them out with stuff so she can get a job and Teddy can go to school like other kids. I can give it to her." He looked at Wanda and said "Grandma wants to talk to you now."

    Her voice was still teary as she spoke. "I never would have guessed anything like this could happen in a million years... What happened? How did they end up with this 'Aunt Anna'?"

    "Her name is Anna Altman, and she found the boys in her backyard after Master Pandemonium attacked. Like Billy said, she couldn't go and tell anyone because she had no identification. Anna did try to see if anyone reported missing children that matched Billy and Tommy's descriptions, but she had no luck. After all, I wasn't going to be looking for them and even if I had Anna still might not have made the connection. But all that's in the past now. I know that Tony's going to help her out with whatever she needs, and our boys are home to stay now."

    Martha said "I should have tried to reach out to Simon earlier. Once I told him you couldn't have lost your mind because of remembering the twins he said that he was going to look into things. But I didn't hear anything from him and next thing I knew he was headed back to California. I just know that it was like the time after Vision was dissembled. I told Simon he needed to get his head on straight and go help his brother out, but after he promised me he would speak with Dr. Pym the next day it never happened. He always denied ever having that conversation with me afterwards. He did recall it when we were talking that last time, but until then there was nothing."

    Wanda could guess that it had been Robert influencing Simon's memory of the talk with his mother so that he could continue to carry out his goals. He had mentioned not having an uncle around to look into things, so that had played at least part of a role in doing so. As for how it would help if a wedge was driven between Simon and Vision, she suspected that either he wanted to further erode her support network or just sought to divide heroes even more so that he could later on step in. "Well, you should probably go and call him soon. He's staying with Tony and all the other Avengers right now, so if you'd like you could even go and drop in to see him."

    The mention of the Avengers struck an immediate chord in her. "Oh. And how are things with them now? They did find the actual culprit, right? What are you planning on doing now?"

    She sighed. "I'm not sure, besides spend time with my family. The team hasn't asked me for anything so far and I doubt they will anytime soon. I'll find something, I know that for sure."

    “I'm sure you will. There's so many people you've worked with and helped out along the way that I can't see you not finding a different path to follow.”

    Vision placed his hand on her shoulder. “Martha, Vision would like to speak with you now. I'm going to put him on, okay?”

    “Oh, yes! I'm just so glad to know he's alright.”

    She handed over the phone, and could hear Vision say “Hello, Mother.”

    Tommy looked at her and asked “Can I say hi to Grandma when Daddy's done talking to her?”

    “Of course you can. But before that, let's see what we can have for dinner.”

    The three of them looked over the menu for room service that was left for them. Wanda decided on chicken parm, while Billy and Tommy both wanted to have cheeseburgers. She planned on waiting until Vision was done before she placed any order. Even though he did not require food the same way they did, he still typically enjoyed sharing meals with the people around him.

    “I knew you would. I do apologize for springing this on you with such short notice. There's one other thing: do you think it would be possible for Simon to come and meet up with all of us soon?” There was a pause as Martha answered him. “I will do that, then.” Tommy began to tug on his arm. “Tommy wants to say hello to you. Let me put him on.”

    Handing over the phone and then walking over to Wanda, she asked “What did she say?”

    “Mother is happy to have us stay with her for as long as we need to. She says that while she does want to have Simon get together with all of us, it would be better if I met with him privately first. We need to go over a lot of things beforehand.”

    "That's going to be the best for both of you. How often have you and Simon spent time alone together ever since things went bad? All of us being together before you can resolve any of your past issues is guaranteed to go badly."

    "Okay Grandma, I'll put Mommy back on." Tommy handed the phone to Wanda. "She wants to talk to you now."

    Martha told her "So it looks like you're going to be staying with me for a while. How long do you think it will be before you get here?"

    "A few days. We need to take some time to ourselves, and I'd like to make sure that you're ready to have guests. And if you're planning to talk to Simon soon, break the news about Billy and Tommy to him. I saw him when the team was working together earlier, but I didn't speak with him then. I would prefer if he didn't drop dead of shock when we end up meeting."

    She laughed. "I'm calling him right after we're done talking. Goodbye, Wanda. I can't wait to see you again. We are going to have a lot to talk about."

    Wanda looked over at Vision and said "Well, it looks like we're going to be spending a bit of time with my mother-in-law. The most absurd thing about that is how much I'm looking forward to it!"

    His expression darkened slightly, and Vision looked to see if Billy and Tommy were still within earshot. "You cannot say that she is your mother-in-law any longer. Once our marriage ended, any ties you had to her also ceased."

    Vision's thoughts on the matter were a bit of a surprise to her, as he had called her his wife to the Sentry during their confrontation. It did appear that the loss of that bond was still a painful wound in his heart today. "Who's to say we aren't still married, Vizh? It's not like we ever filed papers or anything once we said our vows. I don't know if the law would even recognize any relationship like ours, in any case."

     "Our vows were until death do us part. Since I was taken apart, I could be seen as dying for a time. That would bring about the end of whatever bond we shared prior to then."

    She shook her head. "Dark-eyes, if you are married to someone who is declared dead for a few minutes then no one would consider the marriage to be over. Why should what happened with us be any different? I would like to say that if it matters so much to you we can always go and renew our vows. It could serve as the start of something new for all of us." Wanda added "I never got rid of my ring, you know."

    "I do. We should talk more about such a ceremony at a later time. I took the time to order us dinner while you were speaking with Mother, and hopefully the food should be here soon."

    "Then that's what we'll do." Arms linked together, Vision and Wanda headed off to wait.

* * *

 

    It was hours later that Wanda was stepping out of the shower. After the meal was over, Vision had found a puzzle of a dinosaur that the boys had fun putting together. They had been told about how they were going to be staying with their grandmother for a while "until we decide what to do," as Vision had said.

    She was hoping now that the twins were in bed and sleeping peacefully that she would be able to discuss her idea for returning to their old home. Wanda knew there was still a chance her husband would not feel comfortable returning there, so she forced herself to think of other options. Martha was a wonderful woman, but she did not want to impose too much on her hospitality. Maybe they could return to the West Coast, but the memories there would be even harder to deal with than if they stayed out here.

    There was also the issue of what exactly she was going to do with her life from now on. For the first time in many years Wanda was no longer going to be an Avenger. No one from the team had made any gestures towards asking her to rejoin, which was a bit of a relief. If someone were to reach out to her on a personal level, then she might be willing to hear them out. But if the gesture were based on a professional one, then the only response would be a big "NO!" In their past meetings, Agatha had brought up the idea of her going and spending time studying magic with Stephen. Wanda was willing to do so, but she both did not know whether or not Stephen would want to have her, or if it had genuinely been Agatha suggesting the idea. Robert had said he wanted her to leave the team before he had chosen to frame her, so she wasn't sure that the idea of leaving had been put there out of good will.

    Wrapping a towel around herself, Wanda turned towards the door and gasped in shock at the sight before her eyes.

    Agatha Harkness was standing before her, with a smile on her face. "Ah, Wanda. You finally know the truth."

    "Agatha! I'm glad to see you. Everything that's happened - how much did you know? And if you did, then why couldn't you tell me before?"

    She sighed, and Wanda could then see how easily she could see through her mentor. "I wish that I could have told you everything much sooner. But once Robert chose to bring me back from the world beyond, he placed a barrier on me to prevent me from telling the truth of the boys to anyone. He did not want me to go and reveal his plans to anyone. So I had to leave you in the dark. For that I am truly sorry."

    "Please don't blame yourself. I think that you were the one who sent us to Anna, weren't you? That would explain how I had dreams about her before I even knew she existed."

    "I may have given you a bit of a nudge, yes. It was more work to get Philip and Magdalene involved. I didn't know how they would react to seeing me show up out of the blue. But they were the only ones I knew of on the Avengers who Robert hadn't thought of when making everyone forget you knew of your children."

    "Not just them. Scott never forgot. Although I think that him not being around for the aftermath may have played the biggest role in all of that." Wanda had to ask "Do you think that Robert simply failed at killing him, or was the goal just to get him out of the way?"

    Agatha shrugged. "I have no way of knowing the answer to that question. He did seem reluctant to take another person's life until Master Pandemonium was killed. Do not bear him any more anger - he was manipulated into acting by the true enemy. He had no plans to harm innocent children, and he also did not think of doing so until he was told about the souls he could claim."

    She doubted that she would ever fully get over her anger at how Master Pandemonium had disrupted her life, but the majority of her ill-feelings were lessened. "Even if you couldn't directly tell me where Billy and Tommy were, could you have just pointed me towards Anna earlier?"

    "I was both prevented from doing anything related to the children and had to carefully use my magic. You just can't use the same level of power as a spirit that you would have used while you were living. Blocking your memories for a time took far more out of me than I planned for. It wasn't until the Sentry started to focus on the Avengers more that I could break free in even the slightest manner. He had no idea of how to handle a summoning of anything, especially a spirit. I wonder who decided giving the man such power was a good idea. No matter, now."

    "How did you find Anna in the first place?" Agatha had not confirmed outright that she was the one who had sent the boys away, but it seemed like the most likely outcome.

    "It all started when I was trying to implement my first plan to keep Tommy and Billy safe. The best idea I had come up with was to send their souls back in time, so that they could be reborn to different parents. Rebecca Kaplan was one of those women. I am very grateful that she chose to reach out to Anna, because when I got to know her I saw another path opening before me."

    "If your first plan had gone through, then Vision and I never would have seen our boys again." The concept stung in a way Wanda hadn't thought of. Losing your children was bad enough, but to find out that they had been taken from you and were no longer your own was in some ways worse.

    "I know that. It was one of the reasons I couldn't bring myself to do it in the end. But I knew that no matter what there was going to be a period of time when you would not be able to be with your children. I needed to be sure that then eyes of Robert Reynolds were far away from you and Vision before any reunion could take place. I thought at the beginning of all this the parting would only be a few months. Circumstances made that harder than I believed it would be."

    "Was that because of my breakdown?"

    "A small part, yes. You needed to have your mind cleared for a time so that you could move forward, and that drained my magic to such a level that even offering some type of nudge was not going to work out. Vision's lack of emotions also played a part. He had the ability to start feeling more than he did for some time, but his fear of feeling his losses kept those emotions bottled up."

    Wanda had suspected that Vision was capable of feeling for a longer period of time than he actually did. She'd never pushed the issue, finding it too full of her own pain to deal with. "Billy and Tommy were able to tell Anna some things about us. Did you play a role in that?"

    Agatha smiled. "A very small one. The magic that still flows in the boys left them attuned to their father and mother, so they still had a few images that remained with them. I encouraged those images to stay in the front of their minds. But Tommy being able to travel in his sleep came as a big surprise. Vision saw him at one point, but he must have thought that it was some type of trick, since he never mentioned it to anyone. I do wish that I could have gotten something more direct to Anna, but she kept herself very isolated and it wasn't possible to have any kind of meeting take place between her and one of the Avengers."

    "Did you know that Anna was a Skrull when you chose to send Tommy and Billy to her?"

    "Yes. I watched over her after seeing Rebecca try and reach out to her, and saw her change. I knew then that she wasn't likely to go and contact the authorities about the children she found, and that would make it easier for you to get them back when the time came. I could also tell based on how she cared for Teddy that Anna had a warm heart and would jump at the cause of taking on two additional children. She also didn't try to use her powers to get more money or a job the way others might have. That showed something about her moral code. She did try her best to see if there were any children reported missing who matched the boys, but naturally she found nothing. And I couldn't muster up enough energy to appear to her when she was away from the children. You kept coming to me needing advice, and I had to respond then. There was so much less I could do as a spirit. Even now it's taking much of my strength to remain here."

    Wanda vowed to make the rest of her questions brief. "It doesn't matter how long it took to get the job done. What matters is that you helped bring my children back to me." The next part was not going to be easy to say, but she needed to know if she was right. "Did you know that Robert was planning an attack like that? Is that why you were after me to study with Stephen for a time?"

    Her face became much more solemn. "I knew something was coming, but unfortunately not what it would be. I wanted you to go and study magic more in-depth for several reasons. One was so that you could be better prepared for what Robert was going to start throwing at you. I wanted you to be able to do more if the time came that required the Avengers needed a more skilled user of magic. And then there is the matter of Stephen himself."

    Robert's words and what she had seen that one night caused Wanda's heart to sink even more. "How much trouble is he in? I saw him, and there was so much sadness there I couldn't bear to watch much more. Is there anything I could do?"

    "The only thing you are capable of doing now is to be a listening ear and offer support. Stephen has taken on too many burdens in his life, and does not feel he can let many people in. The only one he trusts completely is Wong, and he still hides himself due to so many other feelings. Remember, you can only do so much."

    "Do you think he would be willing to work with me?" Wanda had to try and see if there was something she could do to make a difference.

    "Go and speak with him as soon as you can. I think he's going to want to have you, but be prepared for anything."

    By now knowing their time was limited, Wanda asked one final question. "Why did you tell me to go and pursue a relationship with Simon? You knew I still had feelings for Vision then."

    Agatha gave one of her usual smiles and said "Because sometimes you need to take the wrong path so that you can find the way you truly need to go. If you didn't at least try to see if Simon was right for you, you might have spent your whole life wondering if you should have gone after him."

    If it were possible, she would have given Agatha a hug. "I understand. I don't think that I'm going to be seeing you again, will I?"

    "Not for a very long time, I'm afraid. But I will be watching you as much as I can. And remember," came her mentor's final words, "your parents are so proud of you."

    And for the last time, Agatha Harkness vanished. Wanda stood silently for several minutes, taking in all she had heard.

    There was a knock on the door. "Wanda? Is everything alright?"

    She opened the door and spoke to Vision. "Agatha was here. She explained a great deal, including how she was able to keep our children safe. She also confirmed what I had been thinking for a while, that the first time we heard of her death it was the truth. Robert brought her spirit back to aid in his plan to eliminate the threat of our children. But he didn't understand how dangerous it was to bring back anyone you haven't fully planned to control."

    "But why did it take so long for us to see Billy and Tommy again?" The pain in his voice reminded her of when Vision had said that he had not had the chance to mourn the loss of his children. Even though they had now been reunited, there was still the aftereffects of having experienced the loss.

    "She said she was bound from telling us anything, and her magic was depleted in death. Having to make me forget about being a mother didn't make it any easier. Agatha says she was hoping to only keep the twins away for a few months, but that became harder and harder over time. Anna having no idea of who might be their parents hampered things as well. I think that Robert's actions became more of a focus for her over the years, because he was using forces that could destroy everything around us." Agatha hadn't come out and said that, but with how things had gone when the Sentry undid his distortions it was very clear to Wanda that he had been using some very dark magic. It was almost a surprise that he hadn't come off worse in the end besides losing his mind.

    "But in the end she was able to help. I suppose that was how you and Bonita got the dream that led you to Anna's doorstep." Vision paused. "I hope that the Avengers are able to help her out. I know that it must be hard for her to try and get by without being able to get any type of job."

    "You know Tony. He's going to do something, I'm sure of it. Maybe they could do something on Teddy's behalf, since he's the child of a former Avenger. There's got to be something in our charter that talks about providing for the children of members who die while on the team."

    "I believe that at some point there was some provision put in to care for family members of those who are Avengers. Even if there is nothing, I know Tony will reach into his own pockets to aid both Teddy and Anna."

    Wanda felt that now was the best time to bring up what she wanted to do next. "I've been thinking about what I'd like us to do next."

    Vision nodded. "I have no plans for anything now, save spending time with my children. I fully intend to turn in my Avengers membership when we go and bring Tony's card back to him. I do not want to completely give up on the life of being a hero, but neither can I stand to be with the team any longer. I do wish to know what you have in mind for now."

    She took a breath and said "I'm thinking about seeing if I can go and study magic with Stephen. I don't know if he's actually going to be willing to accept me as a student, but I'd like to try. I doubt that knowing more magic would have prevented the events at the mansion from happening, but I might have been able to weed out the source of the trouble earlier. If Stephen doesn't want me to study with him, I'm going to try and see what I can learn on my own. But I hope he does, for his sake as well as my own."

    "For his sake? Is there a problem with Stephen I am not aware of?"

    "I went and tried to reach out to him early on when Bonita and I were staying with Anna. But I almost wish I hadn't. He looked to be in such a state of despair it broke my heart. I didn't even bother to try and talk to him. I think that he needs someone to help him out, besides Wong of course." Thinking on what Agatha had said made Wanda suspect what the reason was that Stephen didn't try to ask for help from his closest friend. She chose not to voice that thought at the moment.

    Vision contemplated her words. "Could Robert have played a role in having him appear that way? I have little doubt that he was able to make Stephen come and blame you for all that occurred, so he had to having been watching him before that day."

    "Agatha made it clear that Stephen was having troubles, and she would have said if they were the result of Robert's manipulations. He also seemed to think the idea was ridiculous when I confronted him with the accusation."

    "Then you should try and see what you can do. I hope that Stephen is willing to accept you."

    “As do I.” Walking over to the man she loved, Wanda began to loosen the towel around her. “But for now, let's just focus on the present.”

    Vision brought her in for a deep kiss, and Wanda thought for the first time in so long  _Everything is going to be alright._

* * *

 

    “So all that's left to do is draw up a schedule of who is going to be here when.”

    Tony's idea for what could be done to fix the mansion was one that Steve jumped on right away. With all the abilities that the Avengers had gathered together, they would be more than able to to all of the repairs that needed to be done. It would serve as a team-building exercise of sort, just the thing that was needed after all of the chaos they had gone through recently.

     Anna and Teddy had just returned to their home today. While the normal policy for petitioners of asylum was to have them held in a secure location, the Avengers' swearing to keep a constant eye on her had served as enough for her to be released to where she lived. Tony had a few surprises for them when they were leaving. “I want to tell you that apparently our good friend Bob went on a bit of a rampage in your house after you left. Don't worry, everything's been cleaned and fixed up now. You won't be able to tell anything happened at all. A bit of your food was ruined as well, so I've gotten some meals from Jarvis to put in the fridge right here.” He gestured towards some containers. “And best of all, Steve had I have been looking into the terms of membership for the Avengers.”

    “Would what you found have to do with Mar-Vell's status?”

    Steve answered her. “Yes. There's a provision in our charter for anyone who dies while serving us. Their surviving family members are entitled to a yearly stipend to help them get by. Naturally, we couldn't give Teddy anything until we knew about him, so he's going to be getting a little bit more this year.” Feeling pride, he handed the check over to Anna.

    The number of zeroes that could be seen would probably have stunned most people, save for those like Tony. Anna gasped and shook her head. “Oh, my. I can't believe this. There are so many things I want to say now...”

    “We understand. You've been struggling alone for far too long, Anna. Things are going to get better from here on out.”

    She hugged both of them before saying “I wish I'd come earlier.”

    Tony said “All that matters is you're here now. In a couple of days your lawyers are going to be dropping by to start talking about your case. Remember to let us know if you have to go anywhere unexpectedly. And don't be surprised if any of us drop by for dinner one of these days. See you later, Anna.”

    With a wave as she and Teddy headed out the door, Steve then said “It's going to be a lot emptier around here now.”

    In the days since the Sentry had been taken down, the number of Avengers staying in the tower had dropped. Most of the ones who lived close by had gone back to their homes, with the most recent departure being Scott. He hadn't wanted to go until something about the situation with Cassie could be resolved. Thankfully, Jen had gotten him connected with one of the better-known names in the field of family law who in turn had made arrangements for an emergency hearing in regards to her custody. His attorney had made a very convincing case for a temporary change of custody until they could have an actual court hearing. He had cited as reasons for the reversal the lack of any kind of questioning into either Scott or Maggie's parenting skills by the judge, Cassie having no chance to speak her mind even though she was at an age where her opinion should have carried some weight, and the suddenness of the whole matter. Cassie was then order to stay with her father until a more comprehensive hearing could be held, news which she had greeted with complete jubilation. Her mother was still going to try and challenge Scott for a change in custody, but Steve doubted that she was going to be successful a second time around.

    He had yesterday gone to see how Robert was. After the police had been unable to get any information out of him, he had been transferred to a psychiatric ward at a nearby hospital. Based on how he had looked when Steve had seen him, it did not look like that was going to be changing any time soon. On some level Steve thought that he probably didn't  _want_ to get better. If Robert Reynolds were to regain some measure of his sanity, then he would have to deal with the burden of all the things he had done. He was unsure if that was something the man would ever be able to handle.

    On a more positive note, Bonita had jumped at the chance to once again be counted as an active Avenger. She had told Steve when he went to speak to her about Jessica wanted her to take her slot “I almost went to you to ask about joining before this whole thing got started. But with what happened, I never got around to asking you. Then when no one reached out to me about coming back, I just assumed you wouldn't have wanted me around anyway.”

    “We didn't look at older members for the most part because we wanted to have a fresh start. But that was wrong. This was a time when we needed to come together even more than ever. If Wanda had genuinely gone mad and tried to hurt us, then we should have realized that the right thing to do was to reach out even more to those who were part of the team. We failed in that, but from now on I'm going to make sure that we don't forget anyone else."

    "I am going to need some time to get everything together back home. Tony says that I can stay in the tower until the mansion has been repaired. It's going to be fun getting to know all of the faces hanging around. Are there going to be any other changes to the roster?"

    "Luke and I are staying on, and I'm pretty sure Clint is going to be leaving. So there's going to be at least one other new face, besides Rhodey. He'll be taking the Sentry's spot."

    "Good to see both you and Rhodey being there. I like knowing that at someone's going to be familiar to me."

    Steve was also glad that he would be getting the chance to know Bonita better. He had planned to work with Tony once he had explained his idea to make sure that when they had a group working on construction for a day that they tried to make sure that all the groups had at least one lesser-known Avenger. This would insure that everyone got a chance to interact with at least one new person.

    There were only three names that Steve was unable to pencil in. The first two really came as no surprise to him. Wanda and Vision had come to see Tony earlier today, so they could return his credit card. He had stayed away the entire time. Afterwards he asked Tony "How did things go?"

    "They were cordial, but distant. I didn't bother to ask them if they wanted to help out with the repairs. Vision handed over his membership card. Not a shock to me. I did get the chance to ask Wanda about whether she thought I was right in some suspicions I've had about somebody."

    "What did she say?" He wondered if Tony would share any more details about what had concerned him so much.

    "That I'm probably right." He said no more on the issue.

    The other name that could not be added was that of Crystal. Jan had told him that she wasn't going to be able to help them out while they were working on a plan to stop the Sentry, but he wanted to at least try and speak to her.

    She had sounded enthusiastic at first when asked about helping out, but abruptly her voice had gone quiet and she said "Pietro's going to be there, right?"

    If Crystal had sounded like she thought dealing with her ex would be too much of a challenge, Steve would have just reassured her they did not have to meet. Yet the biggest thing he could hear from her was fear. "Is there going to be a problem if he is there?"

    "I can't go. I'm sorry." And that had ended their talk. He wondered why she was so nervous. Maybe Pietro would be able to offer some information as to what was going on here.

    "So, Avengers Assemble?" Tony's words drew Steve out of his own thoughts.

    "Not yet. I'm not going to say that until it's the right time. Once things have been repaired, we have a team put together again - then we can say it." He needed to know that he'd done something to atone for the way he had failed Wanda, and in turn the whole team.

    Tony nodded. "Then let's get started."

    Steve nodded in turn. A new day was beginning.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And this story comes to its conclusion. There will be a sequel, and some of the issues left up in the air here will be worked on in it.
> 
> Currently I expect to start working on it in the new year, but things could move faster depending on how life goes.


End file.
